The Blue Crest
by crisser
Summary: After transferring to Dalton and settling in, Kurt starts to notice how some students are wearing a blue crest on their uniform instead of a red one. What does it mean? And what is the big secret that everyone at Dalton are trying to hide?
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Here is fic #3 of the 5 ones I will be working on this summer. Busy busy work always, but it's how I like it. _

_Thank you to my beta, Ariy!_

* * *

The car was bumping erratically along the narrow country road. Fields stretched out on either side of the gravel lane, green and lush. _The weather could've been better_, Kurt thought. The clouds hanging in the sky looked like they were about fall to the ground from their weight, heavy with water, and the rain had started to fall a while back.

By now, the raindrops were pounding hard against the car and the landscape as far as Kurt's eyes could see. The sounds of it were all around, wrapping him up in a cozy haze as he sat dry and warm beside the heat blasting from the car's vents. The only thing louder than the fat raindrops against glass and steel was the windshield wipers, the rubber sliding quickly and forcefully over the glass. Some old Judy Garland cover crackled faintly through the car speakers, but the radio was only on low.

_Fly me to the moon, and let me live among the stars…_

Burt was sat leaned forward slightly in his seat, trying to see past the flowing rain on the windshield. Every so often, he would glance up to the rear view mirror, trying to catch Kurt's eyes; it was no use, because Kurt was making a point of staring out the window. He was happy to finally get away from McKinley and all the abuse he'd suffered through. Dalton would help him, he knew, but that didn't make leaving any easier.

A sign flashed past outside his window right before he noticed the houses appearing in the distance. It read "Shallow Hollow"_._

As the car continued forward, they passed into the small town.

Shallow Hollow was just as gray, dull, and miserable as the name suggested. A few people were hurrying along the sidewalks, hunched under newspapers and coat collars in futile attempts not to get wet. Other than that, the town seemed to be dead and boring. Kurt felt a small pang in his chest as he realized this was probably where he would go on the weekends or after school when he wanted to have fun. Kurt almost felt like laughing because, for the first time in his life, he actually longed to be in Lima. That was certainly an interesting feeling.

The wind had picked up too, which was probably why most people were staying indoors, and why the few people outside didn't have their umbrellas up. It also made their car wobble slightly, and Kurt wished that they would just reach the damn school already.

"Some weather, huh?" said Carol's voice from the passenger seat. She rubbed her arms up and down, like she was cold.

"Springs are usually calmer. You'd think it was autumn looking out there today."

Burt spoke a word or two in agreement, but Kurt stayed silent. Carole cranked up the heat as they rolled out of town, and Kurt was grateful. His hands were feeling a little cold.

As soon as they had passed the last houses of Shallow Hollow, the surroundings became identical to what they had been before: abnormally green grass and the occasional large tree. However, now, through the windshield, Kurt spotted a building at the far end of the gravel road.

He leaned forward in his seat, grabbing the back of his Dad's and Carole's seats to get a better view.

"Is that it?" Kurt asked.

"It sure is!" Burt replied cheerfully.

Kurt clicked his tongue distastefully a few times and leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest and staring out his window again, deep in thought. Sure, the school looked like more fun than the town - it was large and fancy. He just didn't like the fact that he had to go there in the first place. It was almost five hours from home, so he'd only ever see his friends and family again during the holidays, and the closest one was the summer break, which was three months away.

On top of the home sickness he was already feeling, he wondered what sort of people went to the school. He knew he'd be safe with the no harassment and bullying policy, but was it enough to be safe? What if the people there were just as close minded as the people in Lima, only they were silently condescending? He might be safe, but that didn't mean people would like him. That didn't mean he'd make friends. Maybe they were all just stuck-up rich kids.

He'd tried to put on a good face though, because his parents _were _spending a lot of money on this. Heck, they were even skipping their honeymoon for him! He knew he would have to stay strong; breaking down and crying wouldn't make anything better, even if it was what he wanted to do right now. Instead, Kurt clenched his jaw and zoned out.

Too soon, the car arrived in front of the grand building, pulling to a stop. The rain still hadn't calmed, and no one in the car seemed to be in any rush to leave the warmth and comfort of the enclosed vehicle.

Burt killed the engine and leaned over the steering wheel to peer up at the tall building - at least four floors! - in front of him. He let out an impressed whistle. It was very loud, and when the sound disappeared, they heard nothing but the rain, which grew heavier for a second, and then lightened again.

The school building seemed to be towering up over them, looking awfully grand with its wooden exterior, large old windows and carved decorations on every corner, door and the window sill. Speaking of the doors - dark, round-topped double mahogany doors; they looked expensive! - Kurt saw how one of them open, but no one stepped out.

Instead, he saw an upside down umbrella come flying out of the entrance, and a blonde woman who looked to be in her fifties came running after it.

This seemed to get Burt and Carole into motion, and they pulled their wind jackets tightly around themselves and opened their car doors.

"Here we go!" Burt encouraged before stepping out.

The two car doors slammed shut as quickly as they had opened, and everything became very still around Kurt. He watched as his dad and Carole jogged up to the woman, shouted a brief exchange of words (probably in order to be heard over the loud storm), before Burt came jogging back to the car and the women hurried back inside.

Burt wasted no time in opening the trunk of the car and getting two duffle bags out. Kurt turned in his seat, and Burt looked up at his son through the rear windshield as he fiddled with the bags in his hands.

"It's okay, Kurt. We'll take the boxes in when the rain lets up; we wouldn't wanna ruin all your stuff. I'll just take these bags of clothes-" he said as he wiggled a blue duffle bad and lifted a black roll suitcase from the ground, "-for now. Just hurry inside and you won't get too wet. I'll meet you there."

Burt slammed the trunk shut without further acknowledgment of his son and ran as best as he could with the two heavy bags. Kurt watched him, still not making any attempt to leave the car. He sighed loudly to himself, brow furrowing as he leaned over the back seat and retrieved his not-so-good-in-the-rain coat. He slowly unfolded it, undoing his seat belt as he did so, and pushed his arms into the sleeves. He buttoned the coat slowly, fixing his gaze on the open door of the school. He thought he saw someone standing there, but he couldn't make out who it was.

Popping his collar in an attempt to protect more of himself from the elements, Kurt prepared to leave the car. Realizing his hair would look awful no matter what he did, Kurt finally opened the door and threw himself into the downpour. Unfortunately, he hadn't planned his exit very well, because he was on the wrong side of the car and had to run around the vehicle before he could head for the building.

Realising this, Kurt leaned against the car door for a few seconds, feeling the water pour over him, and _wow_, it was like stepping into a shower. Kurt was drenched in two seconds. He jolted into action, running towards the safety of the inside of the school.

Kurt's feet landed unevenly on the gray gravel of the driveway as he ran, flinging perfectly identical stones behind him with his feet with every step he took. Kurt kept his head down, ignoring the too-green trees and gardens lining the building and the curious faces he imagined were peering down at him from the windows above. He would deal with all of it later.

Stepping through the open doorway, Kurt finally got his first look at the inside of the school. The entrance hall wasn't too big, but it the ceiling soared sky high, as if they were in a tower. A spiral staircase dominated the other side of the room, leading up to other floors. The stairs were made of wood and marble, and Kurt thought to himself that he had never seen anywhere as pristine as this place.

The woman who had greeted them outside turned her attention away from Carole looked at Kurt.

"That's the main staircase to the dorms," she explained, pointing across the room. She took a step forward, extending her hand.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Hummel. I'm Dorothy Cummings, the Vice-Principal for this school."

"Pleasure," Kurt said politely with a half-hearted smile, taking her hand.

She smiled back at him encouragingly.

"Let's take a look around, shall we?" Mrs. Cummings gestured for them to walk through another doorway as she turned away to close the front door. Kurt followed his dad and Carole, casting one last gaze at the entrance hall and the woman who was now shaking water out of her black umbrella.

Kurt found himself slightly confused by the next room. He couldn't figure out if it was a common room or a hallway. It was shaped like a hallway, but there were benches and tables lining one of the walls. However, the biggest factor adding to his confusion was the large fireplace built into the far wall, crackling softly with a warm fire in its hearth. Carved into the dark wood of the mantle, Kurt could make out two birds flying among decorative ribbons.

"The legacy of Pavarotti," Mrs. Cummings said as she stepped into the room, answering Kurt's silent question.

"Canaries are our mascots, representing the school's very own Warblers. Do you sing, sir?"

Kurt saw his dad raise an eyebrow approvingly, liking the idea of people calling his son "sir." Kurt almost scoffed before stopping himself. But he had to admit, there was a certain ring to it. He could definitely see himself getting used to it.

"Yes, I do," Kurt said, "I love singing - I was in my old school's Glee Club."

Kurt had to stop himself for a moment, feeling the growing lump in his throat as he realized that McKinley, his home for almost three years, was already a fading memory, something he would tell people about as part of his past.

If the adults noticed his sudden change of mood, they were all too polite to say anything. Kurt cleared his throat.

"I'm a countertenor."

His voice came out a little too high to sound normal, but he supposed it only proved his point.

"Well then, Mr. Hummel," Mrs. Cummings said lightly, almost teasing him, "You'll have to be careful. If anyone finds out, you'll be in the Warblers' grasp before you even get to see your dorm room!"

She smiled at him, and he smiled back, thinking that this place might not be so bad after all.

Mrs. Cummings turned to Burt and Carole, telling them about the school system, and Kurt zoned out, bored already. He let his gaze wander until it was inevitably drawn to the raging storm outside. One of the small trees out front appeared to be growing horizontally because of the wind. The rain smashed against the windows and trickled down the glass. Kurt was suddenly reminded of that scene in the fourth Harry Potter movie when Neville, after watching professor Moody torture a spider with the Cruciatus Curse, stares at a window painting of a woman and makes the rain look like her tears.

Kurt was about to look away when the thought came to him, but something else caught his eye.

Outside, far away at the edge of one of the fields, Kurt was a hundred percent sure he saw a man walking. He seemed rather small and was moving rapidly, so Kurt thought that he must be a student. _But why would anyone be out in this storm? He's insane,_ Kurt thought.

They continued along a series of corridors, learning the history of the building, which was sort of dull, and also the places Kurt definitely needed to make a mental note of (cafeteria, auditorium, choir room, etc). Mrs. Cummings told them that the school had five floors, but the second floor was the main floor where the entrance was and the first floor was a basement. She informed them that there were a couple of common rooms and old storage spaces down there.

Two seniors soon came to meet them and help carry the two bags Burt was still dragging along to Kurt's dorm.

The two seniors looked very much alike; both were tall and blonde seemed to be trying not to look bored.

"These two gentlemen will be doing a quick search of your bags," Mrs. Cummings informed them, "But please don't worry, they will be careful not to damage anything. It's only standard procedure, something we have to do to avoid legal complications if weapons were to be found on the property that could cause damage."

Kurt saw from the corner of his eye how Burt and Carole exchanged a glance. What exactly had she meant by "cause damage"? Had something happened in the past?

The seniors stood by dully, listened to them talk for a bit.

"Aren't these boys handsome?" Mrs. Cummings suddenly asked, smiling at Kurt.

Kurt's eyes widened, and he felt a flush creeping into his cheeks.

"I-I…um…"

Mrs. Cummings seemed to realize her mistake, and attempted to clarify, saying, "I mean, you'll be wearing a uniform, too. That's the rule here at Dalton. Gray dress pants, a button-up shirt and tie. If you don't want to wear the blazer - which I myself think is the most handsome part - then there are different colored cardigans you can choose from to complete the outfit."

The seniors took off after that. They were probably supposed to stay so that Kurt could admire their clothing.

_Just like puppets_, Kurt thought. He wondered if he would be like them by his senior year… but he was only a junior, so he had some time before he would have to worry about that.

Mrs. Cummings said that he'd get to see his room soon enough, and told him she understood how tired he must be. He nodded appreciatively at her, feeling the exhaustion settling into his limbs. He thought he should be full of energy, having done nothing all day except sit still in a car, but he wasn't. He almost felt like climbing into bed right away, although he knew he couldn't because it was only a little after five. The weather didn't make his head feel any lighter either.

By that time they had hit all the big stops of the tour, so Mrs. Cummings let them go.

"Dinner is served at seven," she said, "I'm sure you'll want to settle in and rest a bit until then."

She dug into the pocket of her skirt and handed them a key. It was made of shiny silver, and the head was a flat circle decorated with tiny branches. Kurt accepted it from Mrs. Cummings, thanking her for the tour.

"Your room is on the third floor, number 312." With that, they parted ways.

Kurt, Burt and Carole made their way up the stairs to the assigned floor. Once there, it didn't take long to locate room 312. It was simply a brief walk down the corridor and a turn to the left. Kurt's room was slightly off-side, but he figured it could have been worse. At least he didn't have to follow the hallway the other way, turning left and right four or five times before reaching his room. The large, golden letters on his door were faded and aged, but they served their purpose.

His door was at the end of the small corridor, right beside a window overlooking one of the side gardens. It amazed Kurt how green everything was, still fresh with spring. He raised the key and wiggled it into the old lock. It unlocked with a rather loud click. _No sneaking out past curfew, then, _thought Kurt.

Kurt instinctively held his breath as he pushed his dorm door open with one hand - it was actually rather heavy - and saw his room for the first time. If he'd dared to have any expectation for what the room might look like, it ended up topping all of them.

He took in the sight, completely frozen in the doorway. He had a notion that moving might break the beautiful illusion. The term "dorm room" seemed so inappropriate for this room, because it made Kurt think of a shabby little room with a bed and a desk. But, _oh_, this was as far from that as you could get.

Two large windows with perfectly creased, thick, red, velvet curtains drawn on either side of them took up the far wall. A dark wooden desk with a matching chair stood under one of the windows, made the same wood that seemed to decorate the entire building- mahogany. On the right side of the room a king-size bed took up most of the floor space, and if it wasn't the biggest and most comfortable looking bed he'd ever seen, Kurt didn't know what. It too had headboards made of the dark wood.

On the opposite side of the room was a smaller version of the fire place Kurt had seen in the hallway downstairs. On top of the mantelpiece there was a picture frame containing a note that Kurt couldn't read from so far away.

The floor was covered with a carpet so lush that Kurt just wanted to snuggle up on it or walk around barefoot. Every detail was striking, but the most shocking thing for Kurt was the sheer size of the room. He'd expected a cupboard and had walked into paradise instead. Okay, maybe paradise was too much… but a haven, at the very least; his own safe haven.

Kurt heard his dad clear his throat from somewhere behind him, and Kurt realized that he'd been walking slowly into the room as he marvelled at the magnitude of it all. He turned to his dad, who was standing rather awkwardly in the doorway. Kurt realized Burt was waiting for him to say something.

"This is wonderful," Kurt breathed, feeling tears spring to his eyes in gratitude. "It's perfect."

Burt smiled sheepishly. "I'm glad you like it."

He turned to Carole, taking her hand in his. "We got it just for you. We thought you deserved something nice to hang onto right now."

Kurt's brow furrowed in confusion, and his dad explained quickly.

"There were several dorm options," Burt said, "And some were cheaper, while others were… well, this." He waved his hand around the room.

"Dad…" Kurt said quietly, his heart swelling in his chest, "You really didn't have to do this. You and Carole could still have gone _somewhere _on a honeymoon, even if it wasn't Hawaii."

"Nah," Burt said, shaking it off. He took a few steps, closing the space between him and his son.

"I wanted to give you this. _We_ wanted to. We knew you didn't want to come here in the first place, and we wanted to do anything we could to make this easier on you… and maybe help you feel a little more at home."

"Thank you," Kurt sobbed, because it was all he could manage at that point. He wasn't even ashamed of the tears rolling down his cheeks. "Thank you, Dad, Carol."

Burt wrapped him in a tight hug. "Even though you're here, I'm just a phone call away. I love you, son. Never forget that."

"I love you, too, dad," Kurt mumbled into his father's shoulder. When they pulled away, Kurt could see his dad's eyes were a little misty too. "I'm gonna miss you so much."

"Me too, kiddo. Me too."

Carole had approached the windows, and was looking out at the raging storm, peeking out past one of the curtains.

"It looks like it's gotten worse; how is that even possible? And how are we going to drive back in this?"

"You could stay for the night- let the worst pass," said a voice from the doorway. All three turned and saw one of the seniors from earlier, holding Kurt's bags. "But that's only my suggestion. We wouldn't want anything bad happening, would we?"

"Could we do that?" Carole asked, turning to Burt. "Stay? Do you have it covered at the garage?"

"Yeah, I do." Burt patted Kurt's shoulder. "Would that be okay with you, kiddo? Us staying to help you settle in a bit?"

Kurt nodded, wiping his tear-stained face with his sleeve. He soon regretted it, feeling how damp the fabric of his shirt was from the rain. "I'd like that, Dad."

The senior placed the bags next to the enormous bed, and turned back to the Hummels confidently. His posture was remarkable- hands folded behind his back and shoulders not the least bit hunched.

"I will tell Mrs. Cummings to get an extra bed brought into the room, and perhaps some extra blankets," the senior said. Something seemed to dawn on him.

"Oh! I am terribly sorry, I have yet to introduce myself properly! My name is Sebastian Smythe, and I will be your guide and helping hand for the next few weeks."

"Kurt Hummel," said Kurt with a watery smile.

They shook hands.

"Nice to meet you, Kurt," Sebastian said, giving Kurt a small smile in return. "I'll see you at dinner." With a quick bow of his head, he disappeared through the door.

"Can we make Finn come here, too?" Carole asked jokingly. "I think I want one of _those _sons."

For the first time in what seemed like ages, the tension in Kurt's shoulders disappeared, and he allowed himself to laugh. It felt very nice for a change.

* * *

_Thanks for reading!_


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note:

_I promised myself that I wouldn't make you wait ages for the next chapter, but that happened anyway! So, sorry for that! I had actually finished this chapter a week ago, but since BOTH my beta and I have experienced Internet connection issues, things have been rough. Hopefully it'll get better soon, but I can't promise so. And I was away for almost a week to celebrate midsummer (yes, I live in Scandinavia, and yes, we have a holiday to celebrate the daylight), and the Internet I had at my country house was the worst ever. But I'm home now, thankfully :)_

_Here is chapter 2 at least. I wanna say thank you to all of those who reviewed, favorited and alerted from the first chapter alone! It was insane, and it made me so happy :')_

* * *

Dinner was served, as Kurt had been told, at seven o'clock sharp. Kurt walked through the doors of the cafeteria with his dad and Carole trailing behind. He knew he should be embarrassed to have his _parents_ with him, but although the last thing he needed was for his future classmates to think he was a daddy's boy, he felt comforted by the fact that he wasn't alone.

The cafeteria had the same interior style as the rest of the school, with varying shades of mahogany and cherry wood. There were four long tables in the large room, one for each grade. The freshmen's table was on the left side of the room by a creamy white wall. To the right was the table for the sophomores, and beyond that, the juniors. The senior table was located on the right side of the room, closest to the windows; apparently around here, age gained you respect and meant more privileges. Kurt supposed it was because the older you were, the more work you had done. After all, Dalton's slogan was "_Dalton Academy: Where time and effort will be rewarded_," as Kurt knew well after reading all the brochures.

The dinner hall was emptier than Kurt would've expected, he observed as he crossed the room to join the line-up for food. The freshman table was the busiest: about a fourth of it was occupied, and from the snippets of conversation Kurt caught, there were some sophomores at that table too. The senior table was the emptiest, followed closely by the junior table. Kurt supposed that seventeen and eighteen year old guys had better things to do with their Saturday evenings than spend them in their school's lunch room.

Kurt was surprised when he reached the head of the line and was served a plate of hasselback potatoes with pork steak and red wine sauce. It all seemed too fancy, even for a private school. The lunch lady on the other side of the counter apparently noticed his frown and lack of uniform.

"Saturdays are the only days for fancy dinners," she explained as she spooned a couple of potatoes onto to Kurt's plate.

"Most kids are home with their families, visiting friends, out having fun… who knows? We can afford to spice it up a bit, once a week."

Kurt nodded and thanked the woman for the food. He followed the flow of students to the salad bar, eyeing his options. There was some sad-looking lettuce, cucumber and tomato salad, and a few chopped up vegetable and bean mixtures, but Kurt settled for some defrosted peas.

He poured himself a glass of water and absorbed the new atmosphere. It was rather calm, with a few quiet conversations going on here and there and a couple of people laughing at a joke, almost bending over their table in mirth. Kurt had to smile at the sight. There was the clinking of cutlery against porcelain, and the slight humming of the heating engine keeping the food warm. As Kurt watched the boys, some of whom were in uniform and some dressed casually, because weekends and weekdays past nine were uniform-optional, he was struck by how at ease everyone was. For some reason, he'd expected to see a line of stiff statues cutting their food mechanically, but instead, he saw people who were _home_. Kurt longed for the day when he'd feel the same way, and hoped it would be soon.

Kurt made his way over to the junior's table, where his parents were saving a seat for him before they went to get food themselves. Kurt wasn't sure why they felt the need to do that though, because it wasn't like they wouldn't be able to find enough empty seats. He set his plate down on the navy blue table cloth and slid his legs over the bench one at a time.

As soon as he was seated, he made eye-contact with Sebastian, who was sitting over at the seniors' table with a couple of guys. When they locked eyes, Kurt watched as Sebastian interrupted his companions, who were right in the middle of something. Sebastian mumbled a response to their questioning gazes and excused himself. He rose gracefully, gaze focused firmly on Kurt, and strode purposefully towards him, accompanied by his charming smile. His abandoned friends looked on interestedly, one of them turning in his seat to take a look at Kurt.

Sebastian had to walk around the long table to get to Kurt, and as he did, Kurt took the opportunity to inspect his two friends. One of them was insanely blonde and the other had dark brown hair and a round, kind face. It looked as if the latter smiled a lot, laugh lines permanently dancing around his mouth and eyes, although at the moment his facial expression was settling into a leery frown. Kurt saw the blonde one mumble something under his breath, and dark haired guy nodded in confirmation. Kurt's brow furrowed, but he was distracted by Sebastian, who was now hovering beside him.

Sebastian slipped into the seat across from Kurt and casually leaned an elbow on the table. He toyed with a small object in his upraised hand. Kurt's eyes were immediately drawn to it, and he watched the flat round thing twist round and round in between those long, slender fingers. It looked like a coin, but it was made of wood: dark wood, almost black. There was a symbol on it too, but Kurt couldn't make it out.

The kind smile on Sebastian's lips froze as he watched Kurt stare at the piece of wood in his hand, and he stopped spinning it instantly, covering it in a tight fist. Kurt met his eyes then, his expression belaying his confusion, but Sebastian only laughed awkwardly.

"About the bedding," Sebastian began, clearing his throat in a not-so-subtle way as he changed Kurt's focus.

"I've told Mrs. Cummings that your parents are staying for the night, and she said she would have someone arrange it during the meal."

"Thank you," Kurt replied, sawing through his steak with the dull knife and swallowing a couple of mushed peas.

"That's very kind, even though it's not at all necessary."

"It wasn't any trouble," Sebastian interjected hurriedly. Realising his unnecessary urgency, he laughed awkwardly at his small outburst.

Kurt stopped mid-chew, and stared at Sebastian, wondering why the hell he was so edgy all of a sudden. He'd seemed perfectly normal not an hour earlier.

"Anyway…" Sebastian continued, "All the supplies will be ready in your room as soon as you've finished eating; you just have to set them up. A folding cot, an extra set of sheets… stuff like that."

"Great," Kurt said stiffly, making Sebastian shift a little in his seat before excusing himself.

Kurt watched him through narrowed eyes as he made his way back to his table. Instead of sitting down, he patted the dark haired guy's shoulder and leaned in to say something. For a split second, Kurt was sure that the blonde guys' eyes met his. For a moment Kurt worried that Sebastian was talking about him, but he quickly waved the thought off.

_Don't be silly. Why would he do that?_

Maybe the blonde had felt Kurt's scrutiny and was curious about the new boy. He had flicked his eyes away suspiciously quickly though.

Kurt didn't get the chance to ponder the matter further as his dad and Carole arrived at the table, carrying their plates and speaking happily about what a wonderful school Dalton seemed to be. Kurt listened in silence.

000

Jolted awake by a strange touch, Kurt sat straight up in his bed. He was panting and his head was spinning. The room was pitch dark, and the only light in the room came from occasional lightning bolts in the storm outside the window. Kurt lay back down on the bed exhaustedly, his drowsy eyes shifting to the side. His tired gaze found his dad lying sprawled out beside him. It was his dad's arm, tossed recklessly over Kurt in his sleep, that had startled Kurt awake.

Kurt hugged his pillow, watching his dad sleep heavily beside him. He wasn't used to sharing his bed with someone else, so the warmth and comfort were strange to him. He closed his eyes again, willing the sound of pattering rain to lull him back to sleep, because he'd need it for tomorrow when they were had to move all of his stuff into his new room.

A second later, there a loud crash split the quiet, as if something made of glass had fallen to the floor and shattered. Kurt's eyes flew open again, expecting to see Carole heading back from the bathroom or something, but when he scanned the dark room, nothing was out of place. Carole was lying in the folding cot by the end of the bed, apparently as fast-asleep as his dad. She and Burt had argued before going to sleep about who would share a bed with Kurt and who would sleep on the temporary bed. After a heated argument, Carole had won, so Kurt wasn't surprised to see her asleep in the cot

Yet something had caused that shrill sound, and it had been too loud to come from another room.

"Hello?" Kurt called quietly, not wanting to wake anyone. Of course, he got no reply.

Suddenly, soft music filled the room. It was sweet, like a lyric-less lullaby. Kurt became even more confused and thought it must be a dream or his imagination. He strained his ears and listened more intently, but he couldn't make out from where the sound was coming from.

_Maybe it's coming from another room,_ he thought, but something was tugging inside of him, and he knew he should investigate the matter further.

For some reason, he didn't. Instead, he dropped his head sleepily back onto his pillow and closed his eyes. He knew something was wrong, especially when he thought he heard low grunts and shuffling sounds from across the room, but he didn't move. He couldn't. He felt too tired and too sleepy, and the soothing of the lullaby was too sweet for him to care.

Kurt was feeling drowsier and drowsier, and he was powerless to stop listening to the melody as it switched keys from bright and cheerful to deep and mournful. As the notes grew heavier, so did Kurt's head. He knew he should find out where the music came from, but he felt like he couldn't move. Soon, Kurt was drifting into a deep, peaceful sleep.

000

It was past noon the next day when all of Kurt's things were finally in his dorm room, and Burt and Carole were ready to leave. The storm had mostly blown over, and the light drizzle that had haunted the morning had drifted away. The clouds no longer looked like they were packed into the sky. With any luck, they'd be having sunshine by that evening.

Kurt, accompanied by Sebastian, was standing in the gravel yard in front of the school, waving his parents off. Carole had run back into the school because she'd forgotten her purse among the many boxes, so Kurt got a moment alone with his dad to say goodbye.

"It's just a little over three months," Burt reminded him. "See it as practice, okay? New York will be much further away."

"But it's not the same," Kurt murmured brokenly into his dad's shoulder. "I don't _want _to be here. I wasn't ready to leave yet; I was supposed to have one more year."

"I know, kid," Burt nodded, and momentarily tightened the embrace before letting go. "But if it still feels as hard in a couple of days, you know Carole and I – maybe even Finn – will be out here first thing. There are always weekends, you know."

The air was humid, almost wet in the aftermath of the storm, which was probably why Kurt hadn't noticed that tears had started to fall down his cheeks. He sniffled, wiping his eyes in an attempt to act like he was okay with it all.

"It's alright, Dad. I'll probably be fine as soon as I get some time alone, to think and get used to this."

"Okay." Burt offered a smile and wiped his son's damp cheeks. "Just don't let Carole see that you've been cryin' or the real waterworks will begin. The storm will have been nothin' in comparison."

Kurt giggled with his dad, feeling a little better. He was only vaguely aware of Sebastian hovering in the background and wouldn't have noticed him at all but for the light crunching of gravel as his feet moved restlessly.

Carole came out shortly after. She definitely didn't make it through her goodbye with dry eyes. Funnily enough, Kurt was the one doing to comforting this time.

"It's like Dad said; I'll be home soon enough," Kurt said gently, squeezing Carole's arm.

"I know. I'll just miss you, and your perfect filet mignon, and your brilliant parmesan soufflé. And who's gonna tell me if my outfit is clashing? Burt? Or… _Finn_?"

Kurt smiled adoringly at his stepmother because he was so proud of her. "If you're unsure, you can always send me a text and I'll guide you through it. Classes at Dalton never start before nine."

"Thanks, Kurt."

Going in for one last hug, Carole tried to recover from her little breakdown.

"Take care," she said, her hand gently placed on Kurt's cheek.

"You, too."

Carole moved almost reluctantly towards the car and sat down in the passenger seat. The door thudded twice; once when she opened it and once, a little louder, when she pulled it closed behind her. The sky and the trees were reflected on the window in shadows of white and gray.

Burt looked out across the fields before turning his head up to the sky, as if to determine whether the weather would stay calm or if there was a hint of danger among the clouds. He was standing next to the driver's door, and turned to aim one last smile and wave at his son- who smiled and raised his hand, too- before slipping into the car.

There was a bit of muffled shuffling inside the car before the engine started, and then the car slowly pulled onto the road and drove away.

Kurt watched as the car got smaller and smaller on the straight road. Finally, he registered another presence somewhere behind him.

"You okay, kid?" Sebastian asked quietly, bumping Kurt's shoulder with his.

"Yeah," Kurt said, voice crackling. He cleared his throat and tried again. "I'm fine."

Sebastian nodded, threw an arm around Kurt's shoulder, and began to lead him back inside.

"There are some people I think you'd like to meet," he said, directing Kurt to one of the common rooms in the east wing.

The room was on the first floor, and instead of taking a left off of the entrance hall as Kurt had in his tour, they took a right. This common room was quite small, and would probably feel crowded if two groups of friends were there at the same time. Two couches and two large armchairs were arranged around a low coffee table. The wall on the opposite side of the room was dominated by high, old windows, the kind that were hand-blown and wavy and hard to see through. Despite their age, Kurt could see and hear the raindrops sliding down the windows' panes, and realized that it was raining slightly again.

Four guys were already in the room when Kurt and Sebastian arrived. The blonde and the brunette from the cafeteria were both there, and both reclined on the floor in front of the crackling fire. The two boys Kurt didn't recognize were each sitting on one of the couches. The first boy was slightly and chubby, and he sprawled across the furniture, looking sleepy or just really bored. The other one, a guy with dirty blonde hair and long, lean limbs, sat on the couch with his legs folded under him, holding a book in his hands. It looked more like a novel he was reading for entertainment than something handed out for studies.

Sebastian cleared his throat to announce their arrival, and all four turned their heads to look up at the two boys in the doorway. The blonde by the fire gave Kurt a bright smile which lit up his whole face, but the other three seemed more cautious.

The cheerful blonde was quick to get on his feet and approach Sebastian and Kurt. Kurt was expecting the usual, polite handshake, but instead the guy surprised him by pulling him into a tight hug. Kurt hugged him back a little unsurely. Sebastian laughed out loud at the gesture, which only seemed to make the blonde happier as he pulled away.

"I'm Jeff," the blonde beamed, and Kurt saw the brunette by the fire roll his eyes.

"Kurt," Kurt replied.

Despite the omnipresent rain and the careful look on the other guys' faces, the room oozed a warm and welcoming atmosphere.

_The school was probably decorated that way_, Kurt thought.

Jeff skipped back to the fire - literally _skipped_; what was he, a puppy? -and the other guy rose to his feet. Kurt moved forward to meet him halfway. They shook hands formally, which made Kurt less uncomfortable than the previous greeting, but for some reason Kurt couldn't decide which exchange preferred.

"I'm Nick," he said, and then shot a glance over his shoulder. "Jeff is… quite special. He's my best bro. But Baz is my bro, too, and I look out for my people," Nick said seriously.

"I'm sure you do," Kurt replied, not sure whether or not that was supposed to be a threat But why would Nick think he would pose any sort of danger?

"Okay, let's not spook poor Kurt on his very first day," Sebastian laughed lightly while taking a seat in one of the armchairs. Kurt followed him and took a seat on the couch next to the guy who had now returned to his book.

Kurt learned that the sleeping-or-perhaps-bored guy's name was Trent, and the guy deeply immersed in his _fifth _reading of Moby Dick was Cadence. Since Cadence had been teased all his life for having a girl's name, he asked kindly for Kurt to call him Cade, like his friends at Dalton did. Kurt smiled reassuringly at him; he knew all about being teased for being girly.

The night turned out to be surprisingly pleasant for Kurt, who didn't once think about his Dad or Carole or Glee Club or anything else he had just left behind. For the first time since he found out that he was transferring to a new school, Kurt didn't worry so much about not fitting it. He felt like as soon as he stepped into his uniform and classes began, he would blend in just like every other student. He thought about how well he would mix into the sea of blue blazers with red piping and red crests.

Of course, Kurt had yet to realize that not all students fit into his vision, because not all students were allowed to wear their crest in red.

* * *

_I hope you liked this chapter too! _


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note:

_Sorry for the wait. Again. I would've gotten it up sooner, but I was away for a week to my country house in Finland, with no Internet. But I finished the chapter as soon as I got home and sent it to my beta. _

_I start my summer job on Monday, but hopefully that won't get in the way of my writing. _

* * *

It wasn't much, but it was a lot more than Kurt had even dared to hope for.

He was standing in front of his new closet at Dalton, having just opened the double wooden doors in his dorm that looked big enough to contain all of Narnia. The doorway nearly reached the ceiling, taller than Kurt himself, and looked wide enough to conceal at least six of him.

The inside was, unfortunately, smaller, and nothing about it could measure up to Kurt Hummel's fashionista standards. Still, looking at it now, Kurt realized that it was actually much nicer than he ever would've thought it could be.

There were four drawers along the bottom and a metal shoe rack on top of them. Kurt shuddered as he realized that he would only have room to store four pairs of shoes. Two pairs of flat, varnished shoes were already taking up half of the space on the rack.

As for the clothing, the closet was filled with hangers occupied by a blazer and an endless supply of identical white button-downs and cardigans in multiple colors. However, none of that caught Kurt's eye. He was immediately drawn to two hangers hung on top of everything else. They were tied together by a thin rubber band and held one pink and one peach-colored cardigan.

Attached to the top was a note written in black marker. Kurt would recognize that sloppy handwriting anywhere.

_I don't know if they're a good color for your hair or if they have the right seams or whatever, but I got the administration to approve them as a part of your uniform, so knock yourself out. Happy housewarming, kid. Love, Dad._

Kurt's fingers played with the soft, pink cashmere while he read the note. There really wasn't anything Burt wouldn't do for him.

Kurt smiled, bringing the pink sleeve to his nose and drawing in a deep breath through his nose. There was an unmistakable new-clothes smell, but the underneath, the sleeve held the musky scent of his dad's shaving cream. Kurt had smelled it his whole childhood - that exact brand - and it reminded him of home.

With the little variation that his wardrobe offered, it didn't even take five minutes for Kurt to put an outfit together. His first day of classes was finally here; the Monday he'd been dreading. He was starting to get nervous as he finished dressing, tying his tie and pulling on the pink sweater. Kurt's nose scrunched up as he gazed at himself in the mirror, because the colors of the sweater and the tie were a total mismatch. Nonetheless, he got his bag and the schedule he'd gotten two days before and started making his way to AP English.

000

The classroom markings made no sense at all to Kurt. He was walking amongst floods of students also making their way to first period (who knew Dalton had so many students?), while desperately trying to find room A421.

By the time Kurt realized that the different sections of the school had different letter markings, most people were already gone from the halls. Kurt checked his leather-strap watch - one of the few accessories they were actually allowed to wear - and realized classes had started two minutes ago.

_Crap_, Kurt thought, annoyed, _This is bad_.

He hurried up the stairs, taking two steps at a time, until he started to feel his undershirt stick to his back. Yuck. This was why he hated hurrying; it always left him breathless and covered in gross bodily fluids.

It was when Kurt found himself in a hallway where the numbers jumped from A419 to B434 that he decided that he needed help if he ever wanted to make it to class. He was hurrying along the next hallway, set on going back to the administration office on ground floor, when he ran into a group of students occupying a table set. They were laughing, talking, having a good time… and seeming to be in no hurry at all to get to class.

Kurt approached them slowly. It seemed strange to see Dalton students acting less-than polite, but of course, Kurt wasn't naïve enough to believe that the people here were all good. However, he certainly couldn't understand why some people would just waste an expensive, top-class education like that.

_They are either rich or spoiled or both_, Kurt thought bitterly.

Still, he might as well ask them if they knew where his classroom was.

As he got closer to the group, they responded by quieting down. A couple of the guys threw bored glances his way, but they were hardly eager to acknowledge his presence. They went back to their conversation as if he wasn't there.

"Excuse me," Kurt tried.

But no one even turned an eye at him. There was a pang in his chest, ingrained deeply after years and years of being bullied, tormented, harassed and ignored, and he wondered if this treatment was, again, because he was gay. He didn't exactly think that his pink cardigan was helping, but he wasn't sorry. He didn't regret his choice because no matter what anyone said or did to him, he'd always be more comfortable being himself. He'd be himself at any opportunity he was given - dressing flamboyantly, singing falsetto or talking about Vogue - even if he was taunted for it. He'd rather deal with that than be someone he wasn't.

_But maybe it isn't because of me_, Kurt's thought.

There was actually a possibility that they were just the kind of people who thought they were better than everyone else - not that that was any better, really. Not for them, at least. In both scenarios, they were the jackasses.

Kurt overlooked the fact that the guys were overlooking _him_, crossed his arms over his chest, and refused to back down or be intimidated. If he wanted his stay at Dalton to be different from McKinley, he'd have to let everyone know right away that he wouldn't accept being bullied.

"Hi!" Kurt chimed unnecessarily loudly. It seemed to be working though, because some of the guys actually turned to look at him.

"I'm new here, and I was wondering if anyone of you knew the way to room A421."

By now, Kurt practically had the damn room number tattooed to his mind.

The way the guys were sitting, Kurt noticed, was almost like a circle. The two chairs were occupied, and so was the coffee table between them, but other than that the guys were sitting and standing somewhat upright around the guy in the far left chair. It was as if the guy was in the middle of everything, and the rest simply hovered around him. As soon as Kurt noticed this, the central guy's eyes landed on him.

He stared at Kurt intently, searching for some sort of indication or give-away. His eyes were cold and hard, but there was something about them that was luring Kurt in, making him want to keep looking.

"My name's Blaine," the guy said suddenly, apparently deciding that Kurt seemed alright. He spoke slowly, and he earned more than a couple of confused glances from his friends.

"Kurt," Kurt supplied quickly.

The guy - Blaine - nodded slowly, and Kurt watched as one of the other guys smirked at Blaine, and how Blaine turned to him and smirked back.

Blaine turned back to him, face serious again. "Yeah, Nate knows where it is," he said, answering Kurt's previous question. He gestured to a guy to his left, a skinny lad with pitch-black hair, snow-white skin and icy blue, piercing eyes.

"AP English, right?" Nate asked, chuckling.

"Mhm," he said, barely containing his amusement. "I'm _supposed _to be there right now."

The other guys chuckled with him, but Kurt didn't think it was funny at all. He looked over at Blaine, to see that he wasn't laughing either.

A guy with strawberry blonde hair leaned over to Blaine and whispered something in his ears, lips barely moving. Kurt didn't catch what he said, but the way the other guys cracked up and turned their eyes to his shirt was sort of an obvious give-away.

That was the last straw for Kurt's patience.

"Yes, I'm gay! Yes, I speak like a girl! And yes, I'm wearing a pink sweater! But I like who I am, and I don't care if you don't. So please, give me a direction to walk in or tell me to fuck off so I can get away from you. I honestly don't care which you choose at this point."

Kurt was practically panting by the time he was finished, and his voice was filled with venom. But he allowed himself to be internally pleased by the baffled looks on the guys' faces. Blaine rose quickly and took a couple of steps closer to Kurt. The closeness and the strange intimacy of Blaine's eyes trained firmly on his was enough to catch Kurt's off guard.

"I'm sorry," Blaine said earnestly. He sounded so sincere that Kurt wanted to believe him right away. He took another step closer to Kurt. "

We got off to a bad start. We're actually really nice."

Kurt heard a guy (he assumed it was Nate) snicker and then gasp in pain as a chubby guy elbowed him in the ribs. He didn't actually see any of it, because he was having a hard time tearing his eyes away from Blaine, who was checking him out unabashedly.

Blaine took another step closer, so that he was breathing right beside Kurt's ear. It tickled down his neck. Suddenly there was a hand resting around Kurt's waist, and the tip of a rough finger toying with the hem of his shirt, which was tucked down into his pants.

Kurt knew he should be embarrassed or pull away; he could feel the heat of a blush creeping up his neck, wallowing over him like a wave, but it was like he couldn't. He was too enticed by Blaine's eyes. The color was so warm and soft. And Kurt could swear that the honey in his golden irises was swirling around like the currents of a river.

"Nate will show you to the room," Blaine whispered, right into Kurt's face.

Kurt barely registered what Blaine had said, because all he could think of was how close those plush, red lips were. Close enough that he could almost touch them with his own.

Then Blaine turned his eyes to Nate, and said, quite harshly, "Won't you, Nate?"

And it was like something snapped.

Kurt suddenly realized how close he was standing to Blaine and just how badly he was blushing. He took a quick look around the others and was almost shocked that no one seemed to care even a teensy bit about what had gone down between him and Blaine. Kurt wondered if they'd missed it. But they couldn't have, right?

Of course, there was one black-haired boy whose eyes had become just a little bit more icy.

"With pleasure," Nate said flatly, and rose from where he was sitting on the floor.

Nate started walking, and Kurt did the same. But he'd only taken a few steps to get around Blaine, when he noticed something strange. There was something peculiar with their blazers, they were different somehow.

As they walked away, Kurt thought about when he had seen Sebastian and the other senior on his tour in uniform for the first time. He tried to visualize it in front of him, and he realised that the blazers Blaine and his friends had been wearing were different. There was definitely something that seemed strange about them…

Nate held a door open for him, and it was when Kurt passed him by, casting an eye over Nate's unbuttoned blazer, that Kurt realized what it was. It was the school crest, embroidered on the upper right chest.

It was blue.

Kurt remembered the uniform from the first day very specifically: the navy blue blazer and the blood-red piping. That crest had been red, these ones were blue.

Walking silently with Nate, who seemed to be in his own dark little world, Kurt tried to come up with a reason why their crests might be blue. He couldn't remember seeing it on any other students. Maybe they were exchange students? Or juniors? Maybe all grades had different colors? Kurt wasn't wearing his own blazer, so he couldn't check what color his was. He'd been too nervous in the morning to think about such a trivial thing.

He glanced at Nate again and noticed that the other boy was looking at him expectantly.

"Sorry?" Kurt asked.

"I asked," Nate repeated patiently, speaking almost insultingly slowly, "if it's your first day here."

"My first school day, yes," Kurt told him, ignoring the tone. It was probably nothing.

Nate nodded. "And you're from…?"

"McKinley High in Lima."

Nate opened a third door, and Kurt gratefully stepped through it.

"Voila, here we are, di niente," Nate announced, and made a little bow to accompany the hand gesturing to the door in front of them.

Nate turned to leave, and Kurt couldn't help but to ask, "Aren't you gonna come to class?"

"Nah," he answered with a shrug. "Don't feel like it."

He turned to leave again, but this time he stopped of his own accord. He took a few steps back to Kurt, stopping right in front of him so they face to face.

"Look," he said quickly, "I know Blaine, and I know what he does to guys. That's why I'm warning you now-" he looked around as if to assure that the empty hallway was still empty "-stay away from him."

"Thanks," Kurt replied confusedly. But when he saw Nate's superior smirk, he couldn't help but to add, "But I can take care of myself."

"Right."

To say that Nate looked doubtful would be as redundant as stating that the sky was blue.

"I can," Kurt repeated stubbornly.

"You didn't seem to be able to five minutes ago when he was all over you."

Kurt pursed his lips, but didn't acknowledge his slip-up in any other way. It was a momentary lapse of judgment, nothing more.

"Just… no offense," Nate continued, "but I've seen stronger men fall victim to his charm-"

"I'm not gonna fall in love with him or anything, if that's what you think," Kurt interrupted.

Nate scoffed and smiled bitterly. "I know what I'm talking about, alright? As soon as he gets his real moves on, you'll be done for."

Kurt frowned and crossed his arms again, showing his displeasure.

"Then why are you telling me all of this? If - hypothetically - I'm just gonna fall for him anyway? Then I'll have no chance."

"No, you won't," Nate concluded, which just confused Kurt even more. "But his mind's not set on you yet, so if you just stay away from him, he will do the same to you."

Nate's cold stare faded, and he stepped back. He was obviously confident enough to believe his message had been heard. What must've been the fakest smile Kurt had ever seen was plastered onto his lips.

"Just use your senses, Kurt." Nate was slowly backing away. "You seem like a smart enough guy. Stay away from him unless you want trouble, 'cause he'll give you plenty."

With that, he opened the door behind him and slipped away soundlessly, leaving Kurt alone again.

Shaking his head, Kurt sighed and knocked on the door to the classroom. It was opened a couple of seconds later by an old man holding a book and with round glasses perched low on his nose. He had a lot of stubble, white stubble, and his skin was flushed red. Kurt shuddered at the sight and felt an urge to run off to the bathroom for an impromptu skin-care routine.

But he resisted the urge and instead handed the teacher a paper.

"I'm new to this class," Kurt said quietly, feeling the other students' eyes boring into him with curiosity.

"Yes, of course," the teacher said with murmured clarity. "Come on in. And I will overlook your lateness… just this once."

"Thank you, sir," Kurt responded quietly as he stepped into the room behind the teacher, whose name he still didn't know.

The teacher cleared his throat to get the attention of the couple of students in the back. "Dear pupils, this is Mr. Hummel. He'll be joining our class henceforth, so make him feel welcomed."

Kurt was scanning the room for an empty seat and had just found one in the back when he suddenly heard a small burst of applause. Kurt turned toward the sound, his eyes landing on a guy with brown slicked-back hair smirking viciously and clapping his hands slowly.

"What now, Mr. de Ferris?" the teacher sighed heavily, clearly frustrated. He removed his glasses, put them into one hand, and patiently folded his arms behind his back as he waited for a reply.

Kurt was not surprised to see that the crest on the guy's jacket was blue. He didn't know what the crest meant yet, but he was starting to think it couldn't be anything good.

The student shrugged. "Forgive me; I was just admiring the new student's charades."

"What on earth are you going on about?" the teacher exclaimed, walking up to his desk.

The student only shrugged again.

"I demand you explain yourself!" the teacher urged, obviously struggling to stay calm.

With yet another shrug, the boy stayed silent. A mocking smile emerged on his lips.

Kurt was distraught; he didn't know if he should sit down and let the two work out their obvious issues, or if the teacher was expecting him to stay put. Therefore, Kurt kept wringing his hands nervously as he watched the exchange.

"Mr. de Ferris, I don't need any of your escapades this early on a Monday," the teacher said calmly after taking a few deep breaths.

"I already have plenty of trouble with your friend Mr. Anderson, who I am little surprised to see hasn't cared to join us."

"No such luck, Mr. Parrish."

The voice came from behind, from the doorway. Kurt turned and saw Blaine himself casually leaning against the door frame, books in one hand, dangling by his side, and the other hand pinching a lollipop between his index finger and thumb. The sugary treat was softly tracing the line of Blaine's lips.

Kurt was confused. Blaine had made it clear earlier that Nate shared this class with Kurt, but had said nothing about himself. Why didn't he walk him to class, if he was coming anyway?

Kurt was left wondering.

"Mr. Anderson, I'm glad you cared to join us… late." Blaine grinned and made his way to his seat, paying next to no attention to Kurt as he walked by. The chatter in the room was swelling by the second.

"Please people, this is not a circus! This is a school! Quiet down and let's continue…"

Okay, so Kurt figured he should probably grab a seat now. The only problem was, there were none available. In the same second as Kurt noticed this, Mr. Parrish noticed him.

"Mr. Hummel, care to sit?" Mr. Parrish said between clenched teeth, obviously on his last nerve.

Kurt blushed, but nodded quickly. When he looked back out over the sea of people, he saw a guy discreetly waving him over and sliding to the edge of his chair. Not wanting to be in the spotlight another second, Kurt obeyed.

"God, I so owe you one for this," Kurt whispered as he slid down on the chair.

The blonde next to him giggled quietly, and extended his hand under the table.

"I'm Casper."

"Kurt."

Casper smiled and turned back to the front of the classroom. Kurt didn't want to bother him any more when he'd already given up a comfortable chair for the whole lesson and was forced to sit uncomfortably on one butt cheek (at least Kurt was uncomfortable). But there was only so much time left of the semester, and Kurt needed to catch up.

"Mind filling me in what we're doing?"

"Reading aloud from a book we've been assigned to read," Caspar replied, not seeming to be bothered.

"Which book?"

As soon as Kurt had asked it, Mr. Parrish's voice rang loudly from the front of the room. "So, _The Sun Also Rises_, page twelve, everyone!"

Caspar raised an eyebrow and chuckled. Kurt chimed in easily, wondering if he'd just made a friend. With this thought in mind, Kurt couldn't help but glance at Caspar's blazer.

Seeing the crest on his chest in all its red splendor should have made Kurt feel relieved; he should've been happy that he'd made a friend that was nice and generous, funny and kind of cute (and did he mention possibly gay?). He should've been relieved, but he couldn't help but be disappointed. The whole crest thing intrigued him for some reason, and he wanted to know what it meant. Maybe once he did he could get over his strange obsession with mysteries and accept that everything was normal at this school and in this world.

He'd ask Sebastian about the crest first thing next time they met.

The class dragged on slowly, due to both the Hemingway and Mr. Parrish's monotone voice. The fact that half of Kurt's butt was asleep didn't help either. Once in a while, Kurt would sneak a peek at Blaine. The first time, he'd regretted it, because Blaine had been sucking his lollipop intently, almost obscenely. The second time, Kurt had done it just to get a less compromising image in his head. He did, but he soon regretting looking the second time, too. Blaine had been leaning over to talk to the guy next to him, and had somehow caught Kurt staring. And so it went on.

Halfway into the class, Kurt felt like he was falling asleep. He wondered vaguely if the coffee the school served was decaf. He was also slightly panicking because he hadn't caught a single word of the book Mr. Parrish was reading aloud from.

As soon as Kurt's eyes closed involuntarily, he heard a sudden burst of laughter. He opened his eyes in confusion, and spotted Blaine and the guy from before talking loudly and making jokes. Kurt glanced at the front of the room just as Mr. Parrish fell silent and lowered the book from his gaze.

"Gentlemen," he called sourly. "If what you're discussing is more important than your education, feel free to step outside and continue. If not, be silenced." He shifted his eyes sternly between the two.

Just as he was about to get back to his book, satisfied that the boys had been subdued, Blaine spoke up.

"Actually, it _was_ important," Blaine said, voice carrying across the room. His eyes were dark and challenging, and his smile was playful, almost like he was daring the teacher to start an argument with him.

"I was planning who to fuck next, so if you don't mind…"

"Mr. Anderson!" Mr. Parrish squeaked, "I will not tolerate such language in my classroom! I will not tell you twice: leave this room immediately, and we'll see each other again at five - in the principal's office!"

Blaine rose from his seat, grabbed his books from his desk and raised his hand to his forehead in a little salute. He looked surprisingly cheerful. "Sure thing, Mr. P. Thank you for saving me from this god-awful class!"

As soon as he was out the door, Kurt let out a long breath.

_Maybe the blue crest just indicates 'trouble child'?_ he mused.

After too long a time, the bell rang out, and each student was handed a copy of the book on their way out. And as if universe itself had planned it, one of the first people Kurt spotted in the hallway was Sebastian.

Kurt was dead-set on asking Sebastian about the crests, especially after Blaine's little show earlier. Sebastian grinned happily when he saw Kurt and excused himself from his friends. Kurt casually greeted Nick and Cade before turning to Sebastian.

"Can we talk for a bit?"

Surprised by Kurt's suggestion, Sebastian raised his eyebrows. "Sure. I mean, I gotta go to class soon but-"

"Why are some people wearing a blue crest on their school uniform?" Kurt blurted out. "The engraved 'D', what does it mean?"

If Kurt had hoped, or even believed for a moment, that the blue crests had a normal, reasonable explanation, he wouldn't now. Not after he saw the look on Sebastian's face.

* * *

_Thanks again for reading, reviewing and alerting. It makes me really happy that you're liking this fic, even though I've been so crappy with updates. :)_


	4. Chapter 4

**I haven't abandoned you, I swear! *hides under bed***

* * *

Sebastian's eyes widened at Kurt's question, and he swallowed audibly. He quickly tried to compose himself, but the damage was already done. Kurt had seen it all.

"Um, I'm actually, really in a hurry," he lied. "We'll talk later, okay?"

Sebastian started walking away, but Kurt wouldn't let him escape that easily. He grabbed Sebastian's arm and stood in front of him to block his way. He crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows.

"What is it? Why won't you tell me?"

Kurt watched as Sebastian sighed and darted his eyes to the nearest escape.

"Look, it's nothing, just a… production err- an older edition of the uniform. I mean, um, I gotta go."

This time, Kurt didn't try to stop him. He knew it wouldn't do any good, because Sebastian wouldn't tell him the truth anyway. Instead, he turned to Nick and Cade, who were walking away in the other end of the hall.

Running to catch up, Kurt joined them as they walked to class.

"Hey," he said breathlessly.

"Hey," Cade said back. Nick only smiled.

"Listen, do you guys have any idea where room E214 is?" Kurt began, not wanting to spook them by coming on too strong, as he'd clearly spooked Sebastian. This was a matter that had to dealt with delicately, Kurt realized.

Cade laughed.

"You hear that, Nick? The new kid finds Dalton's room codes puzzling."

He winked at Kurt, and his face was lit by a big grin that spread all the way to his brown eyes. Nick only hummed by his other side and watched his feet as he walked. Cade watched him, his grin fading to a frown as he patted his friend on the back.

He turned back to Kurt, frown still deeply set on his face. As he spoke, he sounded more reserved than before.

"Yeah, it's the chemistry building. About twenty yards south from this building, across the backyard."

"Oh, it's a separate building?" Kurt asked dumbly, head shooting back to the schedule he'd fished out of his bag.

"Yup," Cade affirmed, "For safety reasons, I suppose. Because Dalton is solely made of wood, and you never know what kinds of fires reckless students can start by accident. At least, that's what I heard happened fifteen years ago."

"Wait, what happened fifteen years ago?" Kurt asked, intrigued.

Nick muttered, "Nothing."

But Cade continued to explain persistently, "The school had a south wing, where the chemistry and bio classes were held. Fifteen years ago, a student or maybe a couple of students did some sort of experiment with a gas tank. Long story short, the whole south wing burnt down."

Kurt gasped in shock. "Oh my God! That's terrible!"

"Yeah," Cade agreed. "I guess they decided a separate building was more suitable after that."

Nick groaned deeply and stumbled over his feet. Cade, surprised by Nick's sudden deterioration, caught him by reflex just as he started to fall, and steadied him with his body. Until now, Kurt hadn't noticed the beads of sweat glistering on Nick's forehead and on his face in the yellow light of the chandeliers. His bangs were sticking to his forehead in some places, and his eyes were watery.

"Is he okay?" Kurt asked Cade, because Nick didn't look like he was in any state to carry on a conversation, "He looks like he's got a fever or something… Should we take him to the nurse?"

Cade gave Nick a long look, and Nick fought to keep eye contact. Kurt watched the wordless movement of Nick's lips and the way his eyes bored into Cade's and thought that Nick looked like he was pleading to Cade.

"Cade?" Kurt asked unsurely, wondering if he'd been too preoccupied to hear him.

"What? Yeah."

Kurt shoved his schedule back into his bag and moved to step around Cade and support Nick on his other side, but Cade stopped him.

"Um, it's okay, I can take him. You're right, it's probably just a fever."

He tried to smile, but it didn't reach his eyes this time. It looked more like a grimace.

"Are you sure?" Kurt asked. "I don't mind, I want to help."

"No, we'll be fine," he assured, "Besides, you'll have to leave now if you wanna make it in time to class, with it being in the other building and all."

"It's really no big deal," Kurt said sternly, getting the feeling that Cade didn't want his help, and wasn't just trying to look out for Kurt.

"It's your first day," Cade said then. "You don't wanna be late for every one of your classes. The first one was enough, right?"

He gave Kurt another insistent smile and flung Nick's arm over his shoulders.

Kurt nodded and started to walk away. It wasn't until he'd taken a few steps that Cade's words suddenly connected in his head.

"Wait, how did you know I was late for-"

Kurt spun around to face Cade, but neither he nor Nick was there anymore. Instead, they had been replaced by swarms of students making their way to second period. Kurt felt a couple jabs and shoves against his back guys hurried past him on their way to class, almost knocking him over in the process.

Frowning, Kurt let it go for the moment and decided to leave it until he saw either of them again. For now, he had another issue on his mind: getting to class on time.

He pushed up his sleeve and took another look at his watch. With barely five minutes to spare, Kurt sighed and kicked himself internally for allowing all these conversations to interrupt his schedule. Why couldn't they have waited until after school hours?

_Damn_, Kurt thought, a bad taste forming in his mouth, _I'll have to run again_.

And with that, he was off again.

000

The chemistry building lay at the edge of the forest, almost hidden under the overhanging branches of the trees. The moss-like color seemed to cover the whole stone building. Kurt supposed that the constructors had opted not use wood when they were told that the building would contain highly flammable and explosive substances.

The roof had only a slight slope, making it look almost flat. There was a chimney on top, and there was a dark gray smoke, thick as fire fumes, coming out of it.

Since there was not a single student in sight, Kurt figured he must be late again.

_Just perfect_, he thought with a sigh.

As he pulled the main door open, he was greeted by a large chemistry classroom with endless rows of blue lab desks. However, instead of being packed with the students in Kurt's class, it was empty.

Well, empty except for one.

The student turned his head at the sound of Kurt entering. His hair was dark, but his eyes were darker. His eyes looked almost black, and not even in the flicker of the flames by the open fire did they seem brighter. He wore a harsh expression, eyebrows drawn together tightly as if he were in deep concentration. The look seemed out of place, since his body language was casual and relaxed as he poked the fire with some sort of metal stick.

The student turned back to the fire, but not before Kurt had time to notice that the crest on his blazer was indeed blue; not that it surprised Kurt by this point. All the blue-crested students seemed to command a strange sort of presence, like they were… unnaturally magnetic.

"The class was cancelled, so you can leave," the student said, just as Kurt caught himself letting his eyes linger a second too long on the student's back.

"Wait, cancelled?" Kurt asked, baffled, "I didn't hear anything about that."

"Well, it's cancelled, no matter what you heard or didn't hear," the student said coldly.

"Why? Surely there must've been a reason for it?"

"Oh, yes," he said, looking at Kurt again, his face now covered with a smile.

There was nothing about that smile that made Kurt feel any easier, it just made the student look even more unpleasant.

"Word is, your teacher has been… occupied elsewhere."

As the student raised the metal cane from the flames, Kurt saw that the end of the stick was glowing of yellow and red from the heat. The glowing part looked odd, almost like... a symbol. From across the room, Kurt had to squint hard to make it out in the glow, but he could almost see what the symbol looked like. However, he had no idea what it was, or why it looked so familiar. It resembled a cross, but the top looked as if it had some sort of strange round and hollow flower inscribed onto it.

Kurt nodded and left, realizing that he wouldn't get any answers from the strange student. If he ever wanted to find out answers about the blue crests and the strange students, he might as well look into it himself. Sebastian had made it very clear that he wouldn't have any part in revealing the truth, although he obviously knew what was going on...

Kurt was going to have to find out on his own, starting with that symbol.

000

The library on the top floor of the main building was even quieter than one would expect. Usually in libraries, there are people whispering or speaking, and a librarian hushing them, or even just the faint buzz of a computer running. But as Kurt entered the library, it was completely deserted, and it was dead silent.

Most students were either in class or in their dorms, but it was still a peculiar feeling for Kurt to see the whole room so deserted as he tiptoed past the librarian's desk and in between the high rows of book-filled cases.

There were four computers lined up on a desk by the wall. Kurt dropped his school bag on the floor, sat down on a chair. and powered up a computer. The internal fan sighed lightly, but then returned to a quiet level as it welcomed Kurt.

Every now and then, Kurt felt the need to look through the crack between two bookshelves and see if anyone was out there. The whole library was giving Kurt the feeling that it was closed, and he probably shouldn't be there. Nevertheless, there was a small part of his brain that couldn't seem to ignore the feeling of not being as alone as he thought. He felt like he was being watched.

As soon as the browser appeared on the screen, Kurt typed _g-o-o-g-l-e_ and hit enter. He looked around the room as the webpage loaded slowly before unconsciously leaning closer to the screen. He wasn't sure what he was going to search for, but if there was one thing he couldn't count on to get from his new friends, it was answers.

Kurt nibbled on his pinkie as he stared intently at the bright screen, willing the questions to form in his mind. Casting another eye to the librarian's desk, Kurt typed the words "ancient symbols."

He changed to Google images, and browsed through the many different symbols. Some looked familiar – like the trinity and the Celtic cross – while others seemed to be made up by someone who'd been reading too many sci-fi novels.

There was nothing remotely similar to what he'd seen on the metal stick. He tried other things too – _religious symbols, symbolic rites, known symbols, _un_known symbols _– but there were no hits.

He was just about to type "cross symbols" when a movement caught his eye.

Kurt looked up, horrified that someone was there and had seen what he was doing. Someone was standing there, leaning against a bookcase, his horrified expression mirroring Kurt's as he stared at the computer screen.

It was Jeff.


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's the fifth chapter! Sixth on it's way :) I should tell you though; I'm a senior in high school and if that wasn't stressful enough, I'm applying to universities abroad and writing a fictional novel for my senior project, that's what's taking up my time. I'll be really busy, but I'll still try to update this fic. **

**Also, I wanna say thank you to all my readers, all of you who've put up with me. Thanks to all of you, there are now over 100 alerts for this story! So thank you.**

* * *

"Jeff! I didn't see you there!" Kurt called before realizing that they were still in a library. Then again, there was no one else there except for the two of them.

Jeff didn't even seem to notice. He was simply staring at the computer screen in front of Kurt with wide eyes. Kurt shifted his eyes between Jeff and the computer screen and connected the dots.

_Sebastian isn't the only one who knows_.

Jeff didn't tear his eyes away until Kurt minimized the window. After that, he finally met Kurt's eyes. He was blushing hard.

"Um, sorry, uh, w-what did you say?"

Kurt crossed his arms over his chest, doing his best to look determined.

"Do you know anything about the blue crest on some students' uniforms?" he started.

"Um- uh, I- it's…" Jeff stuttered, obviously thinking hard to come up with a lie.

"Sebastian told me it was some sort of association?" Kurt lied smoothly.

"Oh, yeah!" Jeff caught on, stepping right into the trap. He snapped his fingers and pointed a finger triumphantly. "That's what it was! …Boxing."

"Funny, Sebastian said it was wrestling," Kurt continued cruelly.

Jeff started blushing harder.

"Um yeah, t-that's what I meant. Well, b-boxing _and _wrestling."

"It's strange that you say that," Kurt said, starting to get annoyed, "because Sebastian actually blamed it on old editions or a mistake in production or whatever he said it was."

"Oh."

Jeff shifted his weight between his feet restlessly. "Kurt…"

"So could the two of you just stop lying and tell me the truth?" Kurt said tiredly.

There was a moment of silence before Jeff clicked his tongue and took a seat by the computer next to Kurt's.

Kurt waited impatiently for him to speak. When he finally did, Kurt was disappointed.

"Look, we're only trying to protect you from all of this," Jeff sighed.

"Do you actually think I'll accept that?" Kurt asked. "If none of you will tell me, there are always other ways for me to retrieve the information, you know."

Jeff sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. Kurt seemed to have dragged Jeff to the extreme opposite of his usual happy-as-can-be mood. And though it wasn't only Jeff keeping him in the dark, and Kurt had a feeling Jeff was only acting on Sebastian's orders, he couldn't't help it. He needed to know what was going on at the school he had to call home. If there was something he needed to be protected from, shouldn't he know what it was so that he could be on the lookout and stay away from it? Kurt tried posing the question to Jeff.

"It's not that simple," Jeff replied.

"How is it not simple? This thing you won't tell me about is either dangerous or it's not."

"Not everything is one way or the other," Jeff insisted. "Certainly not this. I'm not the most informed on the topic… but I've heard some very scary things about it."

"Will you just tell me? My curiosity is killing me!"

Kurt sensed Jeff hesitating, as if actually debating whether or not to tell him, so Kurt pushed on.

"Sebastian won't have to know that you told me."

Jeff scoffed. "Yeah, right. You say that now, but it'll be no way you could hide that you know."

"Wanna bet?" Kurt challenged.

"No," Jeff said sternly, closing in on himself. "I promised Sebastian I wouldn't tell you about them, so I won't. Even though I think you deserve to know."

Kurt sighed.

_Is there really no way around- wait_, he thought.

"Wait, _them_? You mean the crests?"

The instant look of horror on Jeff's face as he realized he'd said too much was a clue to Kurt that Jeff was truly afraid of whatever he was hiding from Kurt.

"I should go," Jeff squeaked and sprang up from his seat.

But he stopped just as hereached the bookshelves, spinning around one-eighty.

"What were you doing when I first came here?" Jeff asked suspiciously, eyes narrowed.

Kurt raised an eyebrow slightly.

"I thought you knew. Based on the horrified expression you got it certainly seemed like it. Plus, the stuttering didn't exactly help with your cover."

But Jeff ignored the jibes.

"Did something… happen? Why were you looking at… those things?"

"I saw a symbol that I recognized and I wanted to know what it was," Kurt shrugged.

"A symbol?" Jeff questioned, "What kind? Where?"

Kurt almost laughed at the absurdity of it all.

"If you won't tell me, why should I tell you?"

Jeff ground his teeth together so hard that Kurt could almost feel shivers running down his spine.

"If you tell me, I'll tell you. Not everything, but a part of it."

Kurt gave him his best not-amused expression.

"Yeah, like I would fall for that."

"Do you have a choice?" Jeff smiled sadly.

Kurt bit his lip as he pondered on whether or not he should tell Jeff what he'd seen. A big part of him wanted to keep it a secret as revenge, but there was also a small part that felt the need to tell him. After all, he didn't exactly know what he had seen. Maybe Jeff would keep his promise and help him figure out what it meant. The whole thing had made him confused, and being who he was, he just wanted things to start making sense. All these secrets were becoming too much for Kurt to handle – he didn't want to be the last one in the know anymore.

"I was on my way to Chemistry," Kurt finally confessed, "and everythingl seemed… normal."

_As normal as it gets around here_, he added in his head.

"But when I got there, a student told me the class was cancelled. He... was acting weird and he was wearing a blue crest on his uniform."

Jeff nodded sympathetically, but then he frowned.

"Acting weird, how?"

Kurt didn't even know how to begin describing the behavior of some of the people who walked the Dalton grounds, let alone the guy he'd run into in the Chemistry building.

"He seemed occupied, like he was in deep thought, and he was rude and… he was poking a stick into the fire."

"He was turning the firewood," Jeff concluded. He sounded dumb-struck. "I was expecting something more odd, to be honest," he added with a relieved laugh.

"No, he wasn't turning the wood," Kurt continued, and Jeff grew wary again. "It looked like he was heating the stick. The stick… with the symbol."

This got Jeff's attention like nothing else had. His eyes grew wide as saucers, and he took quick steps back to Kurt's side, grabbing him roughly by his shoulders. Kurt yelped, more in surprise than pain.

"What was the symbol?" Jeff bellowed. "What was it?!"

"I don't know; I was trying to find it online when you came in but I didn't know what to look for. It looked like a cross, but not just a cross... and I'd seen the symbol before, but I can't remember where, and _pleaseletmego_," Kurt rambled.

Jeff sighed, but obliged. He released Kurt's shoulders and let his arms hang lifelessly by his sides as he slumped down onto the floor. It seemed like he was going through different ways of dragging the information out of Kurt's brain in his head. However, if that was really what he was thinking about, he seemed to be giving up.

"I'll see you later, Kurt," he said, "But please tell me if you figure out what the symbol is: it might be important."

"I will," Kurt promised, nodding.

He watched as Jeff rose from the floor in front of him, struggling goofily to untangle his long limbs to stand. Once he was upright, he dusted off his blazer mindlessly with one hand.

Kurt finally remembered his promise.

"Now it's your turn to tell me! Tell me about the crests! Who are they? Why are they acting so strangely?"

Jeff grew sad again and slowly started stepping backwards.

Kurt sensed what he was doing and flew out of his seat. "No! You said you'd tell me if I told you!"

Jeff shrugged as he stepped between the bookshelves.

"I'm sorry. It's for your own good," he murmured, but he didn't look convinced.

In a moment, he was gone, and Kurt was left to wonder once again. He was starting to doubt that he'd ever find out the truth about the things going on at Dalton, but then he remembered something Carole had said. Whenever they were chatting back home, Carole with new adult gossip and Kurt with fashion trends, Carole had at least taught him one thing: big secrets don't stay hidden.

Especially not with a Hudson-Hummel around.

000

While walking back from lunch with Casper and his friends, Kurt notice a coonstant uneasiness hanging over him. Sure, he really wanted to know what the secret was, but there was another thing as well: why had Sebastian told Jeff (and perhaps the others too) not to tell Kurt anything about the secret? Jeff said it was to protect him, but why? And from what?

That was how his mind had been working all day, and it was driving him insane.

"Who's lucky enough to be on that mind of yours?" Casper teased, finally turning his attention away from his friends, Ali and Duncan, and their oh-so-intriguing conversation about a comic book event in Columbus two weekends from now.

Oh yes, Kurt had also found out that Casper was bi. It was a little earlier during lunch when Kurt joined their table. The three of them had quieted when Kurt came up to them, yet insisted that he was more than welcome to join them. After a few minutes of silence, Kurt offered to leave so that they could carry on with their conversation. That was when Duncan burst and hysterically started laughing while telling him how Casper had been gushing about a guy for weeks and how "he totally likes me, I know it,"only to find out he had a girlfriend. After that, Casper grunted and muttered something about keeping to girls from now on.

Kurt blushed slightly at the comment, but waved it off. "No one, really. I just have a lot on my mind."

"After only half a day in school?"Casper asked. "Well, that's Dalton."

Kurt smiled, not wanting to correct him. But it did feel strange. A lot of things had happened in one day, and it wasn't even halfway over yet.

There was also another thing he kept thinking about that didn't make sense. He'd asked Casper and his friends during lunch if they knew what the blue crest meant. To his surprise, they didn't. Kurt had thought it was something everyone knew about but him, as the new kid, but he'd been wrong. They hadn't known; they only repeated "what the masses know", as they said – that those students were bad news.

So Kurt was at a loss. If he ever wanted to know the truth, he'd have to pry it out of Sebastian (not likely), Jeff (more likely), or go straight to the source; a student with a blue crest. He wasn't sure if he'd dare to do that, afraid of what he'd find out. However, his curiosity would get the best of him eventually, he knew.

Just as he thought this, he saw Sebastian again.

This time, it was from across the hallway. There were no students hindering Kurt's view, and he could see clearly how Sebastian was tossing that same wooden coin. The wood was worn and almost black, but the mere sight of the thing instantly brought Kurt back to his examination of it the first time he had seen it.

Suddenly, Kurt had a realization: the symbol on Sebastian's coin was the same as the one on the metal stick that the blue-crested student had been holding on to.

Kurt couldn't say for sure, since he was so far away, but he was fairly certain that the coin was where he recognized the symbol from. If only he could see the coin closer…

"I have to go," Kurt announced to Casper, Duncan and Ali, who looked surprised by his sudden outburst. "I'll see you later; it was really nice meeting you!"

Kurt hurried off without waiting for a further reply, moving over to where Sebastian was standing by a tall window. There was a vertical crack in the glass along the entire height of the insides of the frame.

Sebastian saw Kurt coming and quickly caught the coin once more, sealing it tightly in his now-fisted hand. He seemed to grow wary, obviously still tense from their earlier conversation (or more accurately, the lack of one).

"Sorry about before," Kurt said as he came up to Sebastian sidling over to lean against the wall next to him.

"I didn't mean to come off so harsh, I was just curious."

The faked apology seemed to loosen Sebastian up slightly.

"That's fine."

For a moment, Kurt waited him out. Sebastian seemed to be very restless, trying to come up with an excuse to leave even though there were over thirty minutes left until next period. He continuously shifted from foot to foot and inhaled sharply as if he was about to say something.

Kurt breathed steadily as he watched a few students pass them by.

"What was that coin thing you were playing with?" Kurt asked. He watched from the corner of his eye as Sebastian froze his nervous movements and turned his head to look at Kurt.

"Can I see it?"

Hesitating, Sebastian lifted his fist for Kurt to see, and unfolded his hand to reveal the coin.

Kurt took it from Sebastian's hand when Sebastian nodded his ascent and held it up to his eyes, turning and twisting it. It was heavier than he'd thought it would be. One side had narrow stripes on it: not exactly lines, but a variation of short and long lines and small dots. One of the lines looked like an exclamation point. The other side had a symbol on it. Upon closer inspection, Kurt could definitely see that it was the same one he'd seen before.

"What's the symbol?" Kurt asked, feigning indifference.

Sebastian, watching him suspiciously, didn't budge.

"Why?"

"I just think I've seen it before," he shrugged, running his thumb over the detailed carving.

"You think you've seen it before?" Sebastian asked doubtfully, not even bothering to hide his suspicion.

Kurt had to clench his jaw to not scream out loud at Sebastian to just spill it already as he put on a faked innocent tone.

"Yeah. I saw one of those students, you know, _with the old crest_, and he had the same symbol. He was playing around with it in the fire; God knows why."

Kurt finished off with a slight shrug and watched as Sebastian's eyes widened – much like Jeff's had – when he got this information.

"What do you mean he played with it in the fire?" Sebastian demanded sharply. His eyes were dark and his jaw was set firmly.

The edges of Kurt's mouth twitched and drew up into a cocky smile as Sebastian lost control. Now Sebastian couldn't pretend that there was nothing going on with the symbol like he'd probably wanted to; it was painfully obvious that it actually held some sort of significance. And the shocked look on Sebastian's face told Kurt that he'd realized how much he has just revealed.

"Want to tell me again what the symbol means?" Kurt asked with a mischievous smile.

Sebastian leaned away from Kurt but still watched him closely.

"This is not a game," he said quietly.

Kurt cocked his head to the side. "You're only saying that 'cause you're losing."

Sebastian heaved a deep sigh.

"Are you listening to yourself?!"

Then he glanced at his watch.

"If you wanna run off again, sure," Kurt said calmly, examining the nails on his hand (he couldn't deny that this game was rather fun), "but you know I'll always find you. It's only a matter of time until you talk."

Sebastian took the coin again, holding it between his index finger and thumb with the symbol facing Kurt, right in front of his eyes.

"The symbol is called _the key of life_," Sebastian explained. Then he twisted the coin so that the strange lines filled his sight. "And these are lifelines."

He put the coin back into his pocket.

Kurt was amazed. The key of life. But what did it mean?

He was just about to ask when Sebastian beat him to it.

"Now, will you tell me what the guy was doing with the symbol and the fire?"

"The symbol was on a metal stick that he was poking around with in a fireplace," Kurt told him. "I saw it when he lifted it from the flames, and it was glowing red and yellow."

Sebastian's jaw was tense again, and his face was hard, but he was nodding. "And who was doing this?"

Kurt bit his lip. He had absolutely no idea of who that guy was – he'd never seen him before. But should he tell Sebastian this and lose the last piece he has for blackmail?

"Tell me what the blue crests mean," Kurt countered with.

Sebastian sighed in frustration. "Not this _again_! You just need to tell me the name, I need to know."

"Sorry," Kurt said without sounding apologetic, "no truth, no name."

They were having a staring contest, and if he had let it play out, Kurt was sure he would have won. However, he knew it was a waste of time – he'd get nothing out of it anyway. So he started to walk around Sebastian to get to his next class.

He was shocked as a hand grabbed his arm tightly and spun him around. Sebastian was practically fuming as he stared at Kurt, and it scared him a little.

"Tell. Me. _Now_."

"No," Kurt said, cursing internally for not sounding as brave as he'd hoped.

Sebastian still let him go, and he stalked off in a different direction than Kurt was heading in.

_Oh, yes_, Kurt thought, _the truth will definitely come out soon._

000

When Kurt had about ten minutes left of his last class on Monday, he still hadn't made up his mind. He was sitting with Casper's friend, Ali, in the back of the classroom for AP History, reading a thick-as-a-brick book about American history. He had also spent a large part of the class watching Blaine interact with his friends with a question repeating in his mind: _should I ask him?_

The encounter Kurt had had earlier with Sebastian was a clear motivator for the _ask him_ side of himself, while Carole's promise that truth would always find a way out argued for the _don't ask him_ side. With all of this going on in his head, Kurt had barely been paying attention the whole class. He was too preoccupied by those little voices in his head, telling him to do one thing or the other. Now he only had ten minutes left to decide, and he was just as clueless as when he'd started thinking about it.

The only question was how long it would take until the truth would come out by its own accord, and if Kurt was willing to wait that long. But in all honesty, what was the rush? Sure, he was curious, and it was starting to consume him, but why couldn't he wait? Then again, it would be easier to just know the truth so that he could stop thinking about it and actually focus in class like he should be doing right now.

As Kurt looked up from the history book in front of him again, he caught Blaine watching him over his shoulder. Blaine was sitting a few benches in front of him, and he was looking extra fine today, Kurt couldn't help but notice. His hair only had a little bit of gel in it, which created volume, but tamed the bushiness of the curls. He was also wearing a black cardigan instead of a blazer, and Kurt had easily concluded during his long stares that black was definitely Blaine's color.

But now Blaine was looking at him, too, and he was _smirking_ like he did. Kurt blushed and buried his head in his book again. A few moments later, when Kurt finally dared to look up again, Blaine was still watching him.

This time, Kurt challenged Blaine by keeping eye contact. This seemed to intrigue him, as he tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes. Kurt's eyes flew down to where he licked his lips wetly, and quickly up again to Blaine's eyes. But the slight movement had been caught by Blaine, who gave him an utterly sultry look and a big wink before turning back around in his chair.

With less than a minute to go, Kurt had made his choice. He wouldn't just go up to Blaine and ask him – Jeff wouldn't have warned him about his safety for nothing. No, Kurt knew these boys were some sort of trouble, and therefore, he decided to follow Blaine after class to see where it would lead them both.

The bell rang loudly, making Kurt jump a little in his seat. Blaine was one of the first ones to take off, so Kurt had to rush out of the room before the teacher Mrs. Sullivan even had a chance to tell them about homework. If the secret behind the crest was good, Kurt thought it would all be worth it.

So Kurt took off, on a mission to follow Blaine even if it would lead him all the way to the end of the earth.

With a little luck, the secret at Dalton would be hidden no more.

At least not to one Hudson-Hummel.

* * *

**That's that, I hope you enjoyed it :) In the next chapter we'll get more Kurt/Blaine interaction, I promise. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Next chapter is here whoop whoop! Almost 6,000 words for this chapter, which makes it the longest so far. I'll try to keep the chapters around this length I think. ****  
**

**I'll have to apologize in advance, though, and say that I cannot be blamed for any mindfucking happening to anyone reading this. To be honest, I'm just as confused by this. But don't worry, it'll make sense soon enough.**

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If there was one thing Kurt had learned about Blaine, it was that he was _fast_. Not just a "walking quickly" kind of fast, but speeding along the corridors and hallways and up and down staircases at record speed. Kurt had to push himself so hard to keep up that he didn't have time to pay attention to where they were going. As he reached the top of the staircase on the 6th floor a few seconds too many behind Blaine, he was fighting to retrieve his breath.

If he'd known that this was how following Blaine around was going to turn out, Kurt figured he probably would have chosen to follow someone else. Nevertheless, he kept going, following Blaine through the dorm hallways on the top floor of the building.

The floor looked quite similar to the floor of Kurt's dorm, with narrow halls clad with wooden decorations and carvings, twisting and turning in maze-like paths. For a moment, Kurt was convinced he was going to lose Blaine as he rounded another corner 30 feet ahead of Kurt. Kurt was half running in his attempt to catch up as he neared the corner.

Kurt's heart almost shut down in his chest as he came to an abrupt halt. Blaine had stopped completely, standing in the middle of the hallway with his back to Kurt, which was why Kurt didn't see Blaine's wide grin.

Kurt almost hurt himself as he threw himself back against the wall around the corner, silently praying that Blaine hadn't seen him. He pressed a hand to his mouth to quiet his heavy breathing as his heart beat faster.

Eventually, Kurt released a long breath as he heard Blaine's footsteps resume as he walked away slowly.

But his relief was short-lived.

"Are you planning on standing there all day or do you wanna come in?"

The voice rang out across the hall, spoken loudly and clearly. Kurt shut his eyes tight, scolding himself for not being quieter, sneakier, a better spy. Though he couldn't quite place the tone of voice, Blaine didn't sound angry.

More curious now than horrified, Kurt carefully leaned forward to peek around the corner. What he saw certainly surprised him: Blaine had unlocked the door to his dorm room and flung it wide open, holding a hand up in a welcoming gesture. His eyes were alight and an enormous grin spread across his face. He didn't look mad or upset at all; he looked absolutely thrilled.

Kurt momentarily hesitated before revealing himself fully to Blaine. He took slow, deliberate steps towards him, watching for any sign of a change in mood. There was none. Blaine was still standing by the door. After a moment he let his arm drop and his grin faltered, his face taking on a more curious look. His lips were parted and the corners of his mouth were tilted upwards slightly. His eyes were almost unnoticeably narrowed. His irises were a dark shade of yellowish brown.

Kurt stopped just as he was about to walk over the threshold, Nate's words from before ringing in his head.

_Stay away from him unless you want trouble._

As Kurt looked at Blaine, whose eyes burning intensely into Kurt's, he felt shivers racing down his spine. He didn't know what kind of trouble Nate had been talking about, but whatever it was, it only intensified the excitement and mystery drawing Kurt in.

Without a second thought, Kurt stepped over the threshold and into the room.

000

Sebastian was running. He was running as fast as he could, pushing forward and sprinting for all he was worth. The effort forced the air out of his lungs, and he fought hard to suck it back in. He felt his legs starting to shake, along with his hands and arms as they swung through the air rapidly in an effort to gain just a little more speed. He had to hurry; he couldn't be late, not this time.

He'd gotten the call from Jeff a few minutes earlier, telling him the last piece of information he needed.

They had gotten to Nick like they said they would.

Sebastian pushed through a set of double doors without even slowing as he raced down the hallways. Many thoughts were racing through his mind all at once, but he tried to push them away. The issue with Kurt would have to wait. Sure, that kid was turning out to be more of a danger to himself than Sebastian thought he could be, but whatever stunt Kurt was planning to pull in order to accomplish what he thought he needed to do to understand Dalton would just have to wait. Right now, Nick needed him, and that's what he had to focus on.

He came to an abrupt halt outside Nick's dorm room after sprinting up the many steps of the staircase. He raised his fist and pounded the door in a desperate rhythm. _Knock, knock-knock, bang._

Sebastian panted shallowly and placed his hands on the wall, tilting his head down. He almost felt sick from his mad dash and nearly regretted pushing himself so hard, but this was an urgent matter. It couldn't wait. Nick was one of his closest friends.

The door opened within ten seconds. Cade stood there, eyes wild and distressed as he moved aside to let Sebastian enter.

Sebastian hurried past him and became aware of the situation immediately after just a glance at the sight in front of him. Jeff was sitting on the side of the bed, holding Nick's hand tightly as if he were afraid that if he let go, Nick would too. Trent was standing on the other side of the bed, tie thrown off and sleeves rolled up his arms. They all looked tired, exhausted, and worn-out, but worst of all was Nick. He was pale and sickly under the bedspread, muttering lowly as his eyes moved rapidly but saw nothing.

Just one look told Sebastian how bad it was. He had to put an end to this, _now_.

"Who was it?" Sebastian asked. "Was it Felix or Dexter?"

"Most likely one of them, yes," Cade said quietly, "Nick hasn't been fit enough to tell, though."

He looked over to where Nick was lying as if to prove his point. He grew pensive.

"There's a risk he might not know."

Sebastian nodded.

"What can we do?" Jeff pleaded quietly, looking up at Sebastian with wide and frightened eyes.

Sebastian swallowed dryly, feeling a lump forming in his throat along with an uneasy feeling in his stomach.

"I'll go find them both. Felix. Dexter. I'll talk to them, see what they know. It would have to be one of them: Lucas wouldn't trust anyone else."

"You think they'll actually help you?" Trent asked doubtfully.

"Considering what happened last time..."

Sebastian sighed. "I don't know, probably not. But there's nothing else we can do right now."

The silence which followed told him his friends thought differently. He turned to Jeff, who was still pleading with him with his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Jeff. I don't know where Lucas is. No one has seen him since the last incident."

The pain he felt after uttering those few words was ridiculous.

Before anyone else could say a word, Sebastian was out the door again. He began to pick up speed as soon as the door closed behind him, running down the stairs in haste. He had to help Nick, even if it would cost him his own life... he felt like all of this was his fault; it was, to some extent.

After all, Lucas was _his _brother.

000

Blaine loosened his tie with one hand as he silently studied Kurt, who was sitting on the foot of his bed, writhing under Blaine's gaze. Kurt was wondering why Blaine was looking at him like that when Blaine abruptly broke the silence.

"You'd think that having a top-floor dorm room would be a bad thing," he said pensively as he discarded his blazer on the chair by his desk, "but it's not. There are only good things about it."

He took a few steps around the room, as if he wasn't sure what to do with himself.

"First, there's the exercise of running the stairs every day."

He moved swiftly, walking in smaller and smaller circles until his feet brought him in front of Kurt. "Second, no teacher ever sets foot up here because the teacher's wing is extremely far away. Only the curfew guards, and they are oh-so-easy to slip by."

He stopped walking and proceeded to roll the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows.

"Third, these are the biggest and most luxurious rooms in the whole school."

He took a step closer, so that his hips lightly bumped against Kurt's knees.

"Fourth," Blaine said slowly, voice dropping seductively as his eyes darkened, "they are soundproof. I've tested that by fucking every bottoming screamer on campus."

Kurt hadn't noticed how close Blaine had been leaning in as he spoke, so that now their faces were suddenly an inch or two apart. Kurt could feel Blaine's breath on his face. He saw the way Blaine's lips were parted; they looked so soft and plump.

However, this was not what Kurt had come for. He already knew from his few encounters with Blaine that he was a hitter and quitter, and though he understood how a guy with Blaine's looks and dominance could easily make a guy fall, Kurt wanted nothing to do with it.

A nanosecond before their lips touched Kurt pulled back,and stumbled to get off Blaine's bed. The bed was so big and comfortable, with a sea of pillows and blankets that were so inviting that you could just lie there for days while being touched and fu_- shit_. No, that was not an image Kurt needed on his mind right now... but he couldn't deny that he was getting turned on.

Kurt didn't halt his flight until he was a safe distance away from Blaine: two meters away, to be exact, leaning against the back of the couch by the fireplace. Blaine was right, the room was really nice. At first glance, maybe there wasn't a hugely obvious difference between their dorm rooms, but in reality Blaine's was _much_bigger. Especially his bed.

Blaine turned around with a frown etching lines on his face. He seemed confused, but his features shifted when he met Kurt's eyes.

"_Oh_," he said, as if realizing something, "You're one of _those_."

"One of whom?" Kurt asked.

A smile crept onto Blaine's face, a huge one that showed his teeth. It didn't look pleasant at all; it made Blaine look way too cocky.

He took a few steps towards Kurt, who was rounding the couch to get further away from him.

"There are only two kinds of people who seek me out," Blaine said. "The most common type is the guy who just wants to get the best lay of his life."

He kept closing in on Kurt, and Kurt kept backing away, wondering when Blaine would take the hint and stay where he was.

"I see now that I mistook you."

"Clearly," Kurt replied dryly.

That made Blaine stop in his tracks, and he actually laughed. The genuine sound was so strange to Kurt; it was practically sweet to his ears, especially coming from the guy who was anything but. Even if Blaine hadn't stopped walking, Kurt now had to because he was trapped in a corner between a bookcase and the fireplace.

"Too bad." Blaine smirked. "I would've loved being inside that firm ass."

"Sorry, another time," Kurt replied sarcastically.

"Yes, _please_," Blaine grumbled.

"I was wondering-"

"No," Blaine interrupted.

Kurt stared at him in confusion. "You don't even know what I was going to say."

"Yes I do," Blaine countered, stepping closer again. "And the answer is no."

Kurt stared at him, and Blaine stared back.

"Well," Kurt said, trying to fill the silence while his mind worked. Should he leave and try to talk to Sebastian or someone else with a blue crest? Should he try to drag the information out of Blaine?

It didn't take long for Kurt to make a decision.

"I guess I'll go, then," Kurt said, trying to hide his disappointment. He started to leave.

"You're more than welcome to stay the night," Blaine said behind him.

"Maybe I would if you'd answer my questions," Kurt heard himself say.

What was he saying? It had to be the disappointment speaking for itself; either that or his hormones. Still, there was no way that Kurt would give up his virginity that easily to someone he didn't even know. Not that Blaine would actually take him up on his offer anyway.

"Tempting!" Blaine called after him.

Kurt grasped the door handle of Blaine's door and gave it a push. The door was heavy, but – unlike his –moved without making a sound. It was almost more frightening because you'd expect such an old antique door to make horror movie sounds.

The hall was empty and dark. Kurt noticed that the lamps in the hallways must be on motion sensors, because as he stepped out of the dorm he was abruptly bathed in light. He gave the door a push to close it behind him and expected to hear the bang and click of it closing. Instead, all he heard was a silent thud. Kurt turned to see Blaine standing in the doorway.

"Wow, you were actually leaving," he said, sounding surprised, as if he hadn't expected that.

Kurt shrugged. "I thought that was obvious."

"And I thought we were negotiating," Blaine countered.

Kurt quirked an eyebrow, then noticed that Blaine was holding his blazer in one hand and a set of keys in the other. He stepped out of his dorm and locked the door behind him.

When he turned back to Kurt, he said, "Come with me to Shallow Hollow."

"Shallow Hollow?" Kurt echoed. "What's in Shallow Hollow?"

"A place where we can talk," Blaine said.

He started walking toward the big staircase, but Kurt stood where he was for a second. What did this mean? Blaine was obviously willing to give him all the answers he wanted, but the question was, at what cost? Kurt was sure Blaine was expecting something in return.

Once again, without giving it too much thought, Kurt set off after Blaine.

000

The car ride into the town felt longer that it had when Kurt had come to Dalton with his Dad and Carole. He didn't know if it was the anticipation that was dragging out the time, or if it was the sexual tension building up in the limited space with only the two of them in the vehicle.

"Where are we going?" Kurt finally asked as Blaine was driving past the town limits.

Blaine didn't respond. Instead, he slowed the car and parked it by the side of the road. The town around them looked completely deserted, as if no one had lived there for years. There wasn't a person in sight except for a dark figure lurking in a nearby alley. It was nearing twilight, even though it was barely six o'clock, so the buildings and streets were fading into darkness.

"We're here," Blaine said, and unbuckled his seatbelt. He got out of the car before Kurt could respond. Kurt had no option but to follow his lead.

They crossed the street devoid of cars, people, and pretty much anything that suggested the presence of life. When they reached the other sidewalk, Blaine went down a set of narrow stairs to a place that looked like a basement or storage room. Kurt hesitated. This could be a trap. Who knew what kind of dangerous things Blaine could be up to? What if he was about to rape Kurt in a cellar and lock him down there as his sex slave? Although the sex part sounded nice, the cold cellar and against-his-will parts didn't.

As Kurt carefully approached the stairs, he was able to catch a glimpse of the door Blaine had disappeared behind and the sign above it: _Steven's Downtown Bar_. Kurt scoffed. If this was what habitants of Shallow Hollow thought of as "downtown," then Kurt couldn't imagine what the outskirts of town must look like.

But if it was a bar, a registered establishment, how bad could it be?

That was the last thought that went through Kurt's mind before he began a tentative journey down the cement steps, taking them one at a time. At the bottom, he opened the rusty door.

000

Sebastian was running again. He didn't know why, but it felt better to move quickly when his friend needed him, and for some reason, he felt like every second was crucial.

He didn't stop until he was outside dorm room 613 on the top floor. He knocked once, twice and then thrice before he heard shuffling on the other side.

The door opened, and Felix answered it, looking distracted.

"Yes?"

When he saw that it was Sebastian, he grew vary. He pulled the door back against himself, blocking Sebastian's view of the room.

"What could you possibly want?"

"I know what you did to Nick, and I need you to stop," Sebastian said, barging past Felix into the room, thinking that he was hiding something.

"Hey!" Felix called, "Do you mind? And what the hell would I know about your friend?"

"I…" Sebastian took a quick look around, seeing the discarded books and papers all over the bed and the desk.

"Rough week?"

"Professor Hopkin is killing me," Felix confirmed. He crossed his arms over his chest defiantly.

"If you're looking for Lucas you'll have to look somewhere else. In fact, if you see him, tell him he better get his ass back here or else I'll kill him."

Sebastian nodded, knowing this was a dead end.

"Will do," he said, walking out into the hallway. He was just about ready to take off for his next stop when he heard Felix clear his throat behind him.

"But…" Felix said, smiling crookedly, "if Lucas has something planned for your friend, you should be worried."

"Yeah? Well, unlike you, I'm not afraid of Lucas. So when you see him tomorrow, make sure to tell him that. And give him my best."

Felix' eyes widened, but he decided he'd had enough and slammed the door in Sebastian's face. Sebastian could hear the muffled voice on the other side of the door.

"Asshole."

000

Kurt didn't know what he had been expecting when he entered the bar, but it wasn't this.

The cold stairs, the faded sign and the rusty metal door had certainly failed to give a real impression of the place. It seemed as if the owner of the bar didn't want anyone to find it, which didn't make sense, because what salesman didn't want customers?

The bar itself was lined with stools, half of which were occupied by old men who looked like bikers or truck drivers, wearing wife beaters that revealed arms covered in skull and crossbones tattoos. Their leather jackets were hung at a rack by the entrance. Some were bald, some had enormous amounts of facial hair and braided beards, and all of them were burly. Kurt didn't like the thought, but in an alternative universe, some of these men could be badass versions of his dad.

The middle of the room was dominated by a big pool table, which was unoccupied at the moment. The other side of the room was lined with booths and tables, and Kurt saw Blaine sitting in the booth in the corner of the room, texting. Kurt passed two occupied tables; one with a young couple and one with two business men in suits.

Kurt slipped into the booth and sat on the hideous wine-red vinyl sofa. Blaine looked up distractedly, offering a small smile before typing a reply on his phone and setting it aside. Kurt was struck by the normality of the gesture.

"So…" Blaine said, folding his hands in front of him on the table, "What do you want to talk about?"

Kurt raised an eyebrow questioningly. "I thought you knew. You said before-"

"Oh, I knew what you want to know," Blaine clarified, "But I'm not gonna say anything."

Speechless, Kurt leaned back in his seat.

"But… I thought that's why we were here? To talk?"

"And we are," Blaine said. "Just not about the things you want to know about."

Blaine's phone buzzed again, and Blaine held a finger up as he looked at the screen. Kurt crossed his arms over his chest and waited. Blaine wrote a quick reply before returning his attention to Kurt, now smiling delicately.

"I'm not stupid, despite what you seem to think of me," Blaine said gently. "I know that you're not gonna sleep with me, so why should I give you what you want?" He finished with a shrug, raising his hand to wave the bartender over.

The bartender, who had been watching Blaine with dark eyes as he swept the counter with a rag, instantly came over.

"What can I get you?" he asked dully.

Blaine looked at Kurt with searching eyes."Two… beers? Ciders? Club sodas?"

"Club sodas," Kurt supplied.

"Two shots of tequila it is," Blaine informed the bartender, who shuffled off without a word.

Kurt stared at Blaine, mouth hanging open.

"Excuse me? I don't drink, and even if I did, _tequila_ would be the last thing on my list." Kurt's nose scrunched up in distaste. He hadn't been drinking during Rachel's train wreck extravaganza, but he'd seen the horrendous effect alcohol had on his friends. He knew well enough to stay away from that drink.

"Exactly," Blaine said cheerfully as two shot glasses were placed in front of them. Blaine turned to the bartender.

"Put it on my tab, Steve."

"You know, Blaine," the bartender named Steve said, "One of these days you're gonna have to pay your way."

Blaine's eyes darkened and his smile grew wicked.

"Wanna bet?"

"Not today," Steven said easily, walking away.

Kurt was stunned.

"How did you get away with that? And how is he even serving us? He'd be stupid if he thought either of us was over twenty one."

Blaine shrugged. "I have my ways with people."

He brought his glass to his mouth and scooped it down all at once. His face didn't show any indication that the drink had been strong. Instead, he _ahh_-ed as if he'd just drank a glass of water after a long day in the sun. He wiped his mouth with the back if his hand.

"I needed that," he mumbled.

Kurt frowned at Blaine's behavior, but shook his head. He cleared his throat audibly. "Can we get back to the point?"

"Which was?" Blaine asked earnestly, purposely slamming his glass against the table.

Kurt pursed his lips and tilted his head to the side while making his best not-amused expression.

Blaine let out a breathy laugh. "I know you're a virgin," he said under his breath.

Kurt choked on his breath and his eyes widened. "What?"

"I know you're a virgin," he repeated, shrugging.

"How is that the least bit relevant to the discussion?" Kurt asked, feeling himself blush deeply.

"So you're not denying it?" Blaine asked, eyebrow raised and an amused smile on his lips.

For a second, Kurt saw Blaine's eyes dart down to his blushing cheeks, and he actually licked his lips, which made Kurt blush even more. He cursed internally at himself.

"Again_, if it was true_, how is it relevant?"

Somehow, Kurt he felt the need to deny it further, even though it was true, if only not to give Blaine the satisfaction.

"And beside, why would you even think that?"

"I can answer your questions," Blaine said, reaching for Kurt's shot glass, "with one and the same answer – the sole reason to why we're here. The fact is, any gay guy would jump at the opportunity to sleep with me." His smile grew gentle. "Now, I'm not saying it to sound cocky or arrogant, it's just the truth."

Blaine saw Kurt's raised eyebrow, and his voice changed its tone to something more teasing.

"I know the common belief seems to be that I'm just some floozy, but _please_, I sleep around with class."

Then he actually _winked_.

Blaine got up from his seat slowly and slid into the seat next to Kurt. Startled by the proximity, Kurt found himself pressing into the wall to avoid the close contact. Blaine was still holding the shot glass, which he put down on the table and scooted towards Kurt. There was something about Blaine's closeness, the way he had his arm thrown over the back of the sofa, and the way his body was slightly angled towards Kurt that was intoxicating.

Kurt was having trouble forming coherent thoughts as he stared down at his hands. He let his eyes drift to the clear liquid in the glass in front of them before daring to turn them back to Blaine's dark eyes. Kurt didn't know if it was because of the dim lighting in the room, but Blaine's eyes seemed darker than they had just a few minutes ago.

"You, on the other hand," Blaine murmured softly, his voice washing over Kurt like silk, "Despite being attracted to me, have not made a single pass at me. You have, in fact, turned me down on several occasions. It's injured my poor _feelings_."

Blaine put a dramatic hand over his heart to stress the joke, and Kurt cracked before he could stop himself. The action seemed to please Blaine.

"Only someone sickly romantic would do that," he continued with distaste, causing Kurt's smile to fade. "Either a romantic or a virgin. I suspect that you fall into both categories, but it makes no difference. The point I began making earlier still stands: no bit of information I supply is going to make you sleep with me. You're too in touch with your emotional side for that to happen. You want your first time to be special, and not with a guy who'll toss you out before the sun is up. Or am I wrong?"

Blaine's little speech probably upset Kurt more than intended, but he couldn't help it. He clicked his tongue disapprovingly. Not only did he abhor the kind of lifestyle guys like Blaine insisted on living, but people who thought like Blaine always made a point of making their counterparts - romantics and sentiments that Kurt loved - seem tacky and ridiculous. Kurt had seen it before, and it irritated him beyond belief every time.

"Not everyone needs to be so crude and lacking of emotion," Kurt snapped. "I don't expect people like _you_ to understand the true notion and intimacy that the act of lovemaking actually is, or at least used to be. It used to be romantic. It used to be honorable, not about scores and bragging."

Blaine frowned. There was a glint in his eyes, a strange distance. It was like Blaine was suddenly somewhere else entirely, absorbed in an old memory. A moment later, Blaine caught himself and shifted his eyes away, casting them down to where he'd begun to slowly rock the shot glass back and forth with his index finger and thumb. The motion created a soft scraping sound.

"Well," Blaine finally said, "Despite what you seem to think, I _do_ know things. I am significantly more knowledgeable than you give me credit for. In fact, I think you underestimate me in more than one sense. I'm not always the bad guy."

Blaine pushed the glass further across the table until its cool surface touched the fingers of Kurt's left hand.

"Only when I want to be," he added.

Kurt couldn't stop looking at the glass in front of him, as if Blaine was sending him some secret signal along with it, a message he should be able to decipher.

All of a sudden, Blaine's lips were right next to Kurt's ear, whispering heatedly, "The drink only takes a second to go down. It won't burn so bad. It'll be over before you know it. It won't even make you drunk."

"Why?" Kurt asked, hating how hoarse his voice sounded; he hated how much Blaine affected him.

"All you care about is the crest, isn't it?" Blaine asked. "But when there's… so much more to know... There's one question you should be asking me, but you haven't even thought about it, have you? You're too _kind_ to. Don't wanna hurt anyone's feelings. Even mine, even though you can't stand me."

Kurt could've sworn that Blaine's voice was laced with wonder.

"What's drinking that going to change?" he asked.

"If I told you something…" Blaine said instead. He swallowed audibly.

"You're not the first curious boy to stumble in my way, you know. But they… they always had another question to ask me, one that– after meeting you now – I can guarantee hasn't even crossed your mind."

Blaine chuckled momentarily.

"Drink that," he said, leaning back, "And I will give you that question; steer you in the right direction. What do you say?"

Kurt opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came out. One little shot, what was the harm in that? It definitely was an easier agreement than losing his virginity, even though the reward wasn't as great. But still, as Kurt looked into Blaine's eyes and tried to read them, he wondered: was Blaine just screwing with him? Was he just making it all up? And what would he gain if Kurt drank a shot of tequila?

The questions were endless.

Blaine leaned his head against the back of the couch and watched Kurt through narrowed eyes. He absently raised his hand, and Kurt held his breath as he felt the warm fingers tangle into his hair. His eyes fluttered at the calming sensation of the calloused fingertips combing through his hair and caressing the skin at the back of his neck.

Blaine smiled sweetly before retracting his hand and gracefully extracting himself from the booth.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom, and if you haven't drunk it when I get back, I'll know you've made your choice."

He was about to leave, but Kurt stopped him.

"Wait!" Kurt searched his mind quickly, remembering a few words Blaine had said and trying to assemble his thoughts. He had been meaning to ask about something. Of course!

"You said before that there were only two types of guys who came looking for you. One of them was guys who wanted to sleep with you. You said I wasn't the one you'd thought I'd be."

"Yes?"

"So what am I? What is the other type?"

Blaine huffed, but there was a glint in his eyes again, similar to before. The corners of his mouth turned upwards.

"The one that would do anything to know the truth about Dalton."

Kurt watched in silence as Blaine made his way to the restroom on the other side of the bar. Kurt was left alone to consider the offer. The word 'anything' kept repeating in his mind as he stared at the shot glass. Would he really do anything?

Kurt reached out for the glass, and jumped three feet in his seat when Blaine's phone that was left behind on the table buzzed twice.

Could Blaine really be that naïve? He'd said himself that Kurt was the type of guy who would do anything, and although that wasn't quite right, this was something Kurt actually could do. He threw a quick glance at the restroom to see that it was still locked before making a dive toward the phone and checking the messages.

Kurt soon realized that Blaine wasn't completely stupid, because he had a password on his phone. _However,_ he did have an iPhone, which meant that the last received message displayed on the screen.

Kurt looked at the screen and frowned. Who the heck was Lucas? He couldn't recall meeting anyone at Dalton with that name yet, although he could hardly have met all students there already. But what was more puzzling was the message the mystery student had sent to Blaine: _The tools are ready, when the fuck are you coming?!_

Kurt put the phone back on the table, adjusting it to the exact position he'd found it in to make it look untouched. He wasn't even thinking about the drink anymore; there was only one thing he could think about.

What the hell was Blaine up to?

000

Blaine couldn't believe his eyes. He watched Kurt sitting at their table, checking his phone. Blaine smiled to himself, shaking his head. Of course Kurt would find another way. Blaine had had a feeling that Kurt was something special.

This was certainly going to be more fun than he'd thought.

000

Sebastian didn't even bother to knock this time, knowing that the door to the back room of the chemistry building only could be locked from the outside. He threw himself at it, shoulder first, and it crashed open under his weight.

He didn't want to believe his eyes, but his assumptions had been right.

Dexter was holding the metal stick with flaming eyes and teeth bared. The freshman in front of him, held down by two other guys working for Lucas, chest bare and heaving, snapped his head up to look at Sebastian with frightened eyes.

Dexter turned as well at the commotion of Sebastian's entrance. His smile faded slowly, but his superiority was still clear.

"I'm afraid you're too late," he said cockily.

As he looked at the freshman again, who resembled a frightened deer with his wide, bloodshot eyes, Sebastian knew that Dexter was right in one sense.

"I'm not here to stop your little gathering," Sebastian spat, tearing his eyes away from the freshman, who was pleading to him desperately.

"I'm here because of Nick."

Dexter's smile found its way back to his lips, but this time it looked even more vicious than before.

"Of course you are," he said, taking a step forward. "Let's talk."

* * *

**Hope you liked it! **

**More suspense to come...**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hi again! This took a while, but it's finally here :) Please read the endnote, okay cupcakes?**

**Last chapter: Blaine brought Kurt along to a strange bar where they talked a little and... flirted? Hm, it seems as if Blaine has some sort of little game planned out... Kurt still wants to find out what the secret is, and Sebastian is trying to find out who can help Nick get better.**

* * *

"I see you've made your choice," Blaine said, startling Kurt out of his thoughts.

It took a few seconds for Kurt to remember what Blaine was talking about and look down at the shot glass in front of him.

It was empty.

Kurt's eyes widened; he knew very well that he hadn't so much as touched the drink. He had considered it, but decided against it.

"You look surprised," Blaine noted, with an eyebrow raised.

Of course Kurt was surprised. He knew he hadn't drunk the shot, and he would've noticed if someone else had come up to the table and done it for him. So how could it possibly be empty?

Kurt was just about to say all of this to Blaine, his lips parting as if to speak, but he hesitated. Did it really matter why or how it was empty? The fact was that it was, and Kurt should be happy about it. This meant Blaine could still possibly tell him the truth.

Kurt closed his mouth and tried again. "Oh no, it's nothing," he said, shaking his head. He must be going mad.

Blaine smiled at this. "Then I guess it's time for us to go somewhere more private."

Kurt nodded distractedly, shooting a glance at the glass that had just done him a favor before scooting out of the sofa. He almost turned back to grab for his coat before he remembered that he didn't bring one. He'd come here directly from Blaine's dorm, and all he was still in his uniform and his dad's smuggled-in pink cardigan.

This morning seemed so far away; it felt like an eternity since he'd smiled at his dad's note and pulled the cardigan on.

As Kurt followed Blaine out of the bar, he wondered vaguely if every day at Dalton would be this long.

"Psst," someone hissed from behind him.

Kurt turned to see the bartender looking at him and waving him over with a dish towel.

Blaine was already at the door, holding it open for him. Kurt bit his lip and held up a finger for him to wait. That seemed to upset Blaine, whose face hardened as his eyebrows clenched together.

Kurt went up to the bar. "Sorry, did you want something?"

Steve the bartender leaned over the counter between them and bent close to Kurt. Before saying anything, he threw a glance at Blaine, who watched them suspiciously.

"It's a school night," Steve said quietly.

"You should go home… alone."

Kurt's eyes shifted back and forth between Steve , who looked worried , and Blaine, who was now laughing to himself, shoulders shaking lightly under his blazer.

"I'm sorry, but do you have something against my friend?" Kurt asked, feeling put out.

Steve's eyes widened. He straightened up and went back to wiping the counter.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you felt that way about him. My mistake."

Feeling peculiar, Kurt shrugged it off and joined Blaine, who was now watching him curiously. Kurt passed him with a "thank you" for holding the door open and proceeded to climb the stairs. He was almost startled when he looked around the small town and saw how dark it was already. They hadn't been away that long, had they?

Blaine was right behind him as he walked up to the car, still feeling the eerie gloom looming over the empty city.

"It's just the time of year," Blaine said when they were seated in the car again. "Lots of bad weather, so people tend to lay low. Then again, people in Shallow Hollow are a funny sort any time of year, if you ask me."

Blaine had some trouble starting the car, muttering under his breath as he twisted the keys a couple of times.

"Finally," Blaine muttered as it coughed to life, "Piece of shit has been acting up all week. And I just got her last year."

"Maybe your battery's running low," Kurt suggested offhandedly.

"Yeah, whatever," Blaine said, steering out to the main road.

They were out of town in a minute, and Kurt got comfortable in his seat. He didn't want to upset Blaine, especially not since he wanted get him talking. Kurt decided to start off easy.

"So what was up with that Steve guy?" For a moment, Kurt wondered if that was also a question that would upset him, but it was too late to take it back now.

To Kurt's relief, Blaine chuckled.

"He was trying to warn you to stay away from me."

"Why would he do that?" Kurt frowned.

"Beats me," Blaine said, but the little smile he was holding in told Kurt otherwise.

Kurt was just about to comment on it when Blaine rolled his window down as far as it went.

"Are you crazy?" Kurt shivered, throwing his arms around himself, "Do you want me to get sick?"

It felt uncharacteristically cold for the middle of March. Then again, Kurt didn't even have a coat on.

Blaine didn't answer; he just stuck his hand out of the window for a few seconds. Kurt hadn't even noticed that it was raining until Blaine retrieved his hand. It was dripping as he brought it up to run his hand through his hair. Kurt watched, mesmerized, as a droplet escaped those roughly gelled curls and travelled down Blaine's temple.

Kurt swallowed dryly, suddenly feeling heat spread through his stomach. Despite that, it was still getting cold in the car.

"Could you please roll that up?" Kurt snapped.

"Oh, I don't know about you," Blaine said with a smirk, "but I'm getting hot."

He moved his hand to the buttons, but instead of rolling his window up, he rolled Kurt's down too.

"Come on, live a little. Feel the rain."

Kurt didn't feel like doing anything of the sort at the moment, and he watched Blaine defiantly from his seat.

"Is this supposed to be a part of your deal?" he asked grumpily.

Blaine slowed the car down to a crawl, so slow that they were almost stopped.

"What are you doing now?" Kurt groaned.

"I'm not doing anything!" Blaine snapped, and from his shocked expression, Kurt knew he was telling the truth.

Blaine only just managed to steer the car to the side of the country road before it completely died on them.

"Fuck!" Blaine swore.

Kurt straightened in his seat while Blaine twisted the keys in the ignition.

"That's not gonna help if the battery's dead," Kurt supplied.

"It's not dead," Blaine grumbled, still trying to start up the car, "Why would it be?"

"I don't know," Kurt shrugged. "Mistreated your car, maybe?"

"Shut up," Blaine said tiredly, finding the lever to unlatch the hood. He opened the car door and got out, giving Kurt the brief instruction, "Wait here."

Kurt leaned back against the leather seat, staring out through the open door into the blackness of the night and at the gray drops of water falling down. It took a moment for Kurt to register that the drops were actually falling more sideways than vertically. He shuddered.

Blaine slammed the hood down and hurried back into the car.

"Nothing?" Kurt asked.

Blaine huffed. "Who the fuck knows anything about cars anyway?"

"I do," Kurt shrugged.

Blaine raised an eyebrow. "Okay, so what do you say?"

"Still bet on the battery," Kurt said."Try closing the windows."

Blaine pressed every button he could reach, but nothing happened.

"So?"

"If the battery is dead, nothing that runs on electricity works."

"Thanks for the info," Blaine replied sourly, "But I don't get why would the car just stop working."

"Well," Kurt drawled, clicking his tongue,"It could happen if your alternator was broken."

"My what?" Blaine asked, eyebrows drawing together.

"Alternator." Kurt shrugged again. "If it's been exposed to extreme heat, water, or has been working too hard, it can break. It's hard to say what does it. But if it's broken and you keep using the car, all the electrical stuff will drain the battery, which will have no way of re-charging itself, and we get… this." Kurt threw his hands up and gestured at the car.

"Freaking fantastic," Blaine muttered, slumping in his seat.

A moment of silence passed between them, and the rain was the only audible sound. Unfortunately, the rain was also falling into the car through the open windows.

"Just like your idea to open the windows to the max, I suppose?" Kurt mumbled, shuddering.

"Whatever."

Blaine picked his cell phone from his pocket and held it up towards the ceiling. He swore under his breath.

"Stupid storm is blocking the stupid signal."

"Everything you say sounds _so_ intelligent," Kurt muttered sarcastically, unable to hold himself back.

"So how do you expect us to get back? Walk?"

Blaine gave him a sour glance.

"I'm not stupid," he said, "I know you wouldn't be able to handle it."

Kurt scoffed. "Like you could do it without getting lost or drowning in a puddle or something. That must be a serious concern for people with severe vertical challenges."

Blaine crossed his arms defiantly over his chest.

"As a matter of fact-" he began, but he stopped himself. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and Kurt watched him curiously. When he opened his eyes again, he didn't allow his gaze to meet Kurt's.

"I'm not that short," he said grumpily.

Kurt couldn't hold back his chuckle, because Blaine reminded him so much of a grumpy five-year-old. When Blaine shot him a glare, Kurt covered his mouth with a hand.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "But you kind of are."

"Then maybe you and your tallness can come up with a way for us to get back?" Blaine said.

"We could wait the storm out and then walk back?" Kurt suggested. "We're only ten minutes away or something, right?"

The edges of Blaine's mouth turned upward in a superior manner.

"Or, you know, we could just wait for Mr. Sullith to pass us."

Kurt frowned. "Who's Mr. Sullith?"

"The guard on sixth floor," Blaine explained. "He drives to Shallow Hollow practically every afternoon and drives back in time for curfew."

"Curfew's at _ten_," Kurt whined, "That's almost two hours away!"

"He'll probably pass by us in an hour or so," Blaine said calmly.

Kurt bit his lip to keep it from shivering. "F-fine," he stuttered, and oh my god, why was it so windy all of a sudden?! The rain was practically blowing into his face. His hair was going to be so messed up; thank god most people would be in their dorms already when they got back.

"But," Kurt interjected, "if the rain lightens up before that we'll go then."

Blaine nodded in agreement and finally looked at him. Kurt wasn't sure what Blaine saw in his face, but no one could have missed his shivering.

"Oh god. I'm sorry about all of this. I should look after my stupid car better."

"Don't worry about it," Kurt said, "You didn't know this would happen."

"Still…" Blaine twisted his neck to look at the back seat and then glanced back at Kurt.

"I think I've got a blanket in the back. I'm gonna go look."

Thinking that anything would be better than his teeth clicking together, Kurt nodded frantically.

"Yes, that would be nice."

"Okay." Blaine nodded too. "Just jump into the backseat and I'll be right there."

"The backseat?" Kurt asked, but Blaine didn't hear him because he'd already pushed out into the rain and shut the door behind him.

Kurt watched as Blaine went around the car to open the trunk. The lid of the trunk shielded him from Kurt's sight, but he could hear Blaine rummaging through the space for said blanket. He shifted his eyes and they landed on the backseat. Kurt didn't know why Blaine had mentioned it. He supposed it would move him away from the drafty, open windows, and thereby some of the cold.

Before long, Blaine was sliding into the backseat with a navy blue blanket in his hands. His hair was dripping wet, but Kurt saw that the rain had lightened to more of a heavy drizzle.

Blaine met Kurt's eyes with surprise. "Are you coming?" he asked, shaking the blanket in his hand.

Kurt felt his eyes widen. Blaine had meant that they were going to _share _it. Kurt lingered for a moment, feeling heat spread on his cheeks. He knew he was being silly, but suddenly it seemed like a very intimate thing to curl up next to Blaine and be cozy together, even if it was just to escape the cold.

Blaine raised an amused eyebrow at him.

"Um, yeah. Right." Kurt opened his car door and hurried out.

"I thought I'd to wait for the return of the dinosaurs before you got your ass back here!" Blaine joked as Kurt joined him in the back of the car.

Kurt slid across the backseat hesitantly and shut the door behind him. Blaine raised his arm as an invitation, the blanket already wrapped around him.

On one hand, Kurt felt like he'd do anything to get warm at this point, but on the other, it would mean cuddling with the person he was supposed to be staying away from.

_Oh well,_ Kurt thought,_ Since I'm already here, what's the harm?_

Blaine watched him the whole time as he slowly moved across the seats until his thigh was lined up next to Blaine's, touching all the way. Kurt looked at their legs for a second, then looked up into Blaine's eyes. He stared into those honey-colored depths as he felt an arm drape over his shoulder and pull him closer, gently at first, but then a little more insistently when he didn't budge.

Eventually, Kurt gave in, curling up with his head on Blaine's shoulder and Blaine's arm holding the blanket around him in a warm embrace. Kurt could have sworn he heard Blaine release a soft, happy sigh.

Kurt's shivering stopped almost instantly, and once he wasn't so cold, he suddenly he became very aware of himself. His arms were awkwardly squashed between his and Blaine's chests and he knew that if he didn't move them they'd soon fall asleep.

Wondering how Blaine would interpret his actions, Kurt tentatively straightened one of his arms and laid it feather- light around Blaine's waist.

Suddenly the shoulder under Kurt's head was tipping as Blaine leaned away from him. Kurt lifted his head to find Blaine staring at him with wide eyes and parted lips.

"What?" Kurt said, "Don't look so surprised. I'm just cold."

Blaine swallowed.

"Good thing that I'm here, then," he said and took his other hand and placed it around Kurt too in a full embrace.

"If you weren't here, I'd have a functioning car with closed windows, and I'd be pulling up at Dalton by now," Kurt teased as he set his head back at Blaine's shoulder.

Blaine didn't reply, and the silence continued for a few moments. Kurt listened to the rain and remembered the day he came to Dalton: only three days ago! He felt like had already been there for years. He didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing.

"How do you know so much about cars though?" Blaine asked out of the blue.

"My dad owns an auto shop and I go help him on the weekends," Kurt said softly, "Well, I used to. Before..."

"Before you came here," Blaine filled in.

"Yeah."

When Blaine didn't say anything for a moment, Kurt clicked his tongue.

"You're picturing me in coveralls, aren't you?"

"It just doesn't seem like something you'd ever wear, even if you were being paid!" Blaine interjected.

Kurt started laughing, and Blaine joined in.

"Hey! Don't laugh at me!"

"Well it's true. Is it because you're such a daddy's boy?"

"That's not fair!" Kurt laughed,"I would never wear anything like that normally; I only did it to cheer him up after mom died."

Kurt didn't even realize what he was saying before it was said. Everything suddenly got tense, and Blaine stopped laughing.

Kurt used the hand resting on Blaine's chest to push himself up. Blaine's arms around him didn't allow him to get very far though.

Blaine was looking at him with a sadness Kurt had never seen him show before.

"Your mom died?" he asked quietly.

Kurt cleared his throat. "Yeah, when I was eight."

"I'm sorry."

"Thank you." Kurt didn't know if his hunch was right about Blaine, but he took the long shot anyway.

"Have you ever lost anyone?"

Kurt could practically see it. Blaine's eyes went from sad to cold and he turned his face away, jaw tensing.

All he said was, "I don't wanna talk about it."

Kurt didn't know what had happened to Blaine for him to have built such walls around him, but he knew how bad the loss of a parent was, so he figured maybe Blaine had gone through something similar.

"Hey," Kurt said gently, placing a hand on Blaine's cheek to make their eyes meet.

"I'm sorry."

When Blaine looked confused, he added, "For whomever it was that you lost."

Blaine only nodded. Then he raised his hand to put it over Kurt's. He took Kurt's hand in his and moved it closer so he could press a kiss to Kurt's palm. His face traveled downwards, his nose nuzzling Kurt's wrist and tickling it lightly with the tiny breaths he took. He pressed another kiss there and closed his eyes, pulling on the sleeve of Kurt's cardigan.

"Blaine," Kurt coaxed.

Suddenly Blaine's eyes opened and he almost looked surprised to see Kurt there. Kurt didn't blame him; he was didn't know what was happening either.

Blaine looked at Kurt with an intensity that almost scared him. He lowered their hands.

"Kiss me, Kurt."

Kurt felt his heart beat faster at Blaine's words, his face heating up. Kurt didn't know what to do. He felt like he was frozen to the spot, unable to form coherent thoughts.

"What?"

Blaine cupped Kurt's flushed cheek in his hand. It was warm to his touch.

"Kurt," he pleaded.

And then, it didn't matter that Blaine was an asshole and a player and someone Kurt should avoid with all his might, because suddenly, there was just him and Blaine hugging in a broken car and talking about people they'd lost, and Blaine's voice was so tender and vulnerable as he looked at Kurt like he cared that Kurt didn't know what to do with himself.

He realized in that moment that he didn't care that about all the experience Blaine had; all that mattered was that he wanted to kiss _Kurt_.

Kurt leaned in slowly. Blaine didn't seem surprised; it was like he'd expected him to. Kurt would've stopped the kiss right then and there if that knowledge had made him look cocky, but it didn't; it just made him look sadder.

Kurt didn't want Blaine to be sad.

Kurt closed his eyes just as he felt his nose touch the hollow between Blaine's nose and cheek. He waited and took a shaky breath before trusting his instincts and moving his lips slightly so that they pressed right over Blaine's.

Blaine inhaled deeply through his nose and parted his lips under Kurt's.

Kurt felt the tip if Blaine's tongue trace the crack between his lips, as if he was asking permission for entrance. Kurt's head was spinning, and he thought it must have something to do with not breathing, but he didn't care because Blaine tasted strong like alcohol and sweet like strawberries all at once. He gripped at Blaine's shirt and parted his lips. Blaine didn't hesitate. He thrust his tongue into Kurt's mouth, both of them moaning as their tongues moved against each other.

Blaine tangled one of his hands into the hair on the back of Kurt's neck, massaging the scalp with his fingers. The motion set off fireworks under Kurt's skin. Blaine moved his other hand more slowly, sliding it up Kurt's thigh and squeezing.

There was a loud crack against the window which made both boys jump apart in surprise. Kurt looked out into the dark night, but he saw nothing.

"What was that?" he asked.

"I don't know," Blaine mumbled, throwing the blanket off of him, "I'll go check. Just stay here."

Blaine pulled the car door open and stepped out. Before he closed it again, he leaned in slightly.

"If I'm not back in ten minutes, lock the doors manually, okay?"

"Blaine?" Kurt asked, because Blaine was starting to freak him out. Blaine didn't hear him; his voice had been muffled by the sound of the car door being shut.

Kurt looked out through all the windows, but there was no sign of Blaine anywhere. He slumped in the backseat, pulling the blanket closer around him when the loss of body heat from Blaine got to him.

Kurt didn't have a watch, and when he tried to check the time on his phone, he realized it was dead. He didn't know how long Blaine had been gone. His rational mind tried telling him it couldn't have been more than a minute, but it felt like much longer than that.

When he let his eyes wander again, he saw something he hadn't seen a moment ago. There, across the wide field beside the road, was a _person_. He narrowed his eyes to see if it was Blaine, but he couldn't quite make the figure out. It was really dark, but Kurt didn't think he recognized anything about the mystery person.

Blaine was back before he'd even finished that thought, crawling into the car and shaking the water out of his hair. Kurt felt his jaw drop, but when he looked out and tried to locate the person from before, there was no one there anymore.

"What was that all about?" Kurt asked, irritated.

"It was nothing," Blaine shrugged.

"Then why were you out there so long?" Kurt pushed, "I looked out but I didn't see you and-"

"It's dark, of course you didn't see me," Blaine said with a little laugh, "I thought I saw a deer or some kind of animal and I tried to make it out but it ran away."

Kurt bit his lip. He knew Blaine was lying about something – his body language gave him away and made it obvious –but Kurt didn't know what.

"Yeah, I saw something too. Out there."

"You did?" Blaine asked, surprised, "What did you see?"

"It looked like a person," Kurt confessed.

Blaine's jaw tensed.

"That's weird," he said evenly, "Maybe it was just me you saw."

Kurt nodded even though he knew it hadn't been Blaine. The person he'd seen was taller, and he'd been all the way across the field. There was no way Blaine could've moved from there to the car, not that fast. But he didn't push it, because there was obviously a reason why Blaine was lying to him, probably connected to all the other secrets at Dalton.

"So…" Kurt said to diffuse the tension."What time is it?"

"Almost nine," Blaine said after glancing at his watch.

Kurt hummed in response and folded his hands in his lap. Blaine crawled back under the blanket after a moment, trying to resume their old position. He slung an arm over Kurt's shoulders, but that was it. He must've stopped because of the way Kurt stiffened under his touch.

Blaine leaned in close to Kurt's ear and drew a couple of breaths through his nose, as if he was smelling him.

"Do you wanna kiss again?" he whispered.

Kurt shook his head. "Not right now."

The words had barely been spoken before Blaine's lips nibbled on Kurt's earlobe.

Kurt didn't realize he was moaning until Blaine pulled his lips away. Kurt cleared his throat and tried shuffling further away, but Blaine's arm was insistently keeping him close.

When Blaine's lips found Kurt's neck, it was like the touch shorted out all the wires in his mind and left him with a malfunctioning brain. Rational thoughts flew miles away.

It wasn't until Blaine started sucking that a vague thought – _hickey_ –passed through his mind. He fumbled with his hands until they found Blaine's body and pushed him away.

It was only thanks to the element of surprise that Kurt managed to push Blaine's weight away from him.

"You still owe me a question," Kurt reminded him breathlessly, and the confusion on Blaine's face almost instantly shifted to humor.

"Right," Blaine said, "I _owe you_ one for the drink."

Kurt didn't know why Blaine was fighting the urge to laugh, but now that his brain was working again, he wondered if Blaine somehow knew that he hadn't actually drunk the drink. After all, Kurt had no idea how the drink had disappeared. One second it had been there and the next… it just hadn't. Trying to rationalize it was driving Kurt mad.

"Yes, you do," Kurt said anyway, "So what is it? This mysterious question I haven't thought to ask."

"You're looking at it."

Kurt frowned. "What do you mean?"

A second later, Blaine had moved closer again, and their faces were almost touching. Blaine gazed deeply into Kurt's eyes.

"_I'm _the question."

Kurt shook his head and tried to stand his ground, but Blaine was so close, and something about him was intoxicating.

"I still don't understand."

"Haven't you asked yourself why you chose to follow_ me_ today?" Blaine smiled crookedly. "Of all the guys with blue crests, you chose me. I know I'm a looker-" Kurt scoffed at that "-but I practically had to force you to even kiss me."

"I don't-"

"Why me, Kurt?" Blaine interrupted. He pressed a small kiss to Kurt's thoughtfully pursed lips.

"Why am I so special in all of this?"

Kurt pulled away until he was at a comfortable enough distance to actually look into Blaine's eyes. They were almost challenging him, with eyebrows slightly raised.

Blaine was right though. He hadn't thought of that question, at least not consciously. He'd realized from the first time they met that Blaine was some sort of authority figure in the group, telling the other guys what to do and silencing them with a look. The question was, why? It was just as Blaine had said, but to figure out how he was connected, Kurt had to know what made all of them special, different from everyone else.

"What is the blue crest?" Kurt asked directly for the first time that night, "Tell me."

"Do you want to know?" Blaine asked quietly.

"Yes."

"No, I mean; do you _really_ want to know?" Blaine whispered.

"What's the difference?" Kurt wondered.

"Let me ask you this instead," Blaine countered, "What do you _think_ it means?"

"Um," Kurt said, thinking. "At first, I thought you guys were just assholes."

Kurt had expected Blaine to laugh at that, but he didn't. It was actually unnerving to Kurt just how serious Blaine actually was.

"But whether that's part of it or not, it doesn't explain the hierarchy you have going on. Best guess I have is that it's some kind of secluded cult, _Fight Club_ style, with the secrecy and all that."

Kurt drew a deep breath, and lowered his voice until it was no more than a tender murmur. "But none of those things explain why everyone is so afraid of you."

That seemed to get Blaine's attention more than anything else had. He tilted his head to the side.

"Are _you_ afraid?"

Kurt shook his head no.

Blaine scooted closer, and Kurt didn't push him away this time. He let their lips meet softly. Kurt tangled his hands into Blaine's curls, grabbing at them and using his grip to pull Blaine closer. Blaine reciprocated by sliding his hands down Kurt's waist and hips, settling on his thighs.

A second later, Blaine's mouth froze against Kurt's, and he pulled away with a frown.

"What are you doing...?" Kurt asked as Blaine rubbed a hand over his thigh. Kurt's voice trailed off as Blaine snuck his hand into the pocket of Kurt's pants, reaching for something there. Kurt didn't know what it was; he didn't think he had anything in there, and in fact made a habit out of never putting things in his pants' pockets.

When Blaine pulled the small object out, Kurt felt his eyes widen.

"Where did you get this?" Blaine asked, eyes firm and jaw set.

"It's not mine," Kurt replied, eyes never leaving Sebastian's small wooden coin, "It's my friend's. He must've… dropped it or something."

"Into your pocket?" Blaine asked disbelievingly.

"I don't know!" Kurt sighed. "Why does it matter anyway? Do you know what it is?"

Blaine shook his head and quickly put the coin back into Kurt's pocket.

"No, forget about it. It just looked familiar, that's all."

Kurt was going to call him out on the lie, but Blaine's suddenly wide eyes stopped him.

"You kissed me!" he said incredulously.

Kurt's eyebrows shot up.

"You're just realizing that _now_…?"

Blaine didn't answer.

"Why do you look so surprised?"

"Because you- and I thought… I've never…" Blaine panted, and shut his mouth. He swallowed deeply, a soft, sort of sheepish smile tugging at his lips.

"Never mind."

Kurt was so confused about how weird Blaine was acting. There was no time to talk about it though, because just then, the car lit up with a harsh, white light.

Kurt and Blaine looked out of the back window of the car at the same time.

"It's Mr. Sullith," Blaine said, confirming what Kurt had thought. "Come on, let's go back to Dalton."

* * *

**So I know I'm like the worst updater ever, and I know what it's like to read fics that never update. I hate it, too, believe it or not : **

**Having that said, I was wonder what you readers think would be the best way to go? Do you think I should keep doing what I'm doing now and hope it gets better or should I hold back on updates for maybe the next couple of months and stock up on chapters so I can get some sort of regularity in my updates? I know I should've thought of this before I posted the first chapter, but I got a little eager to post it... :s **

**Please leave a little line saying what you think, or if you have any other ideas. It'd mean the world to me! **


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I seriously am the worst at updating fics.**

**Last chapter: Blaine and Kurt had quite an interesting evening in Shallow Hollow, at the bar and in Blaine's car. They even managed to have some fun _after_ the car broke down... But Kurt still wants answers to his questions.**

* * *

The following two weeks were eventful and uneventful all at once. Kurt had managed to get a kind of weird routine going on, in which he balanced classes, homework and hanging out with his new friends with constantly trying to avoid Blaine.

Of course, that was easier said than done, especially when said person had made it his mission not to leave Kurt alone for a second. Most of the time, Kurt managed to get away. But Blaine was a sneaky guy; Kurt had to give him that, and he kept following him around with his sexual innuendos.

As recently as yesterday, when Kurt was strolling into the cafeteria at dinnertime, Blaine had caught up with him. He'd handed Kurt a tray full of delicious food and placed his hands on Kurt's shoulders to direct him to a table. A lot of people had been staring at them – well, mostly at Kurt – and Kurt wondered why. Seeing his expression, Blaine shrugged it off, saying, "I'm not often seen doing normal stuff with guys I wanna bang."

The dinner had continued with Blaine dropping propositions into every other sentence and repeatedly stealing fries off of the tray.

The reason Kurt was trying to avoid Blaine was so that he could some time to clear his head. He hadn't gotten nearly as much information that night in the car as he'd hoped that night in the car, and he pretty much back at square one. He tried to figure out what to do next, but nothing seemed to go his way. So he figured he needed some time away from Blaine, who only seemed to distract him further, especially since Kurt's mind didn't want to work properly when he was around.

One Friday night, Kurt was curled up in his dorm studying, where he had been since last period had ended. Suddenly, someone came knocking on his door.

Kurt panicked for a second, thinking it had to be Blaine again, but then he realized that it couldn't be. Blaine didn't even know his room number, right?

Kurt put away the book in his lap and went to open the door. He was surprised when he opened it, to say the least. Standing on the threshold was one of the last people he'd expected to see, smiling brightly at him.

"Nick!" Kurt said, surprised but happy to see his friend, "It's so good to see you! Come in."

"It's good to see you too, Kurt," Nick said as he eased himself down on the leather sofa.

"How are you?" Kurt said, asking the obvious question, "That stomach flu had you down for quite a while, gave us all a scare."

Nick smiled faintly, running a hand through his hair and leaning heavily against the cushions.

"You know, feeling a bit weak in the bones, but so much better. Thank you."

Kurt stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. "So… was there anything you wanted?"

The question seemed to brighten Nick's mood.

"Hell yeah."

He leaned forward to rest his arms on his knees.

"There's gonna be a party tonight… and only very lucky people are invited. Including you."

"A party?" Kurt asked, immediately looking at his watch. Sure, the curfew was an hour later on Fridays and Saturdays, but even so, it was only an hour away.

"Is that even allowed?" Kurt asked skeptically.

"God no," Nick said, laughing, "But we never get caught anyway, so it's nothing to be worried about."

"But… the curfew's in an hour. How are you gonna have time for a party before that?"

Nick raised an eyebrow at Kurt's question, thinking that the answer should be obvious.

"Unless you've already started?"

Kurt felt his stomach tense as he suddenly wondered if Nick was only asking him to come out of pity. But that didn't make sense, because if they didn't want him there, they could probably get away with it without him ever knowing about it. There was no reason to invite him, really.

"No, no," Nick corrected quickly, "It starts _after_ curfew."

Kurt's eyes widened. "Oh. Okay. So…"

"So," Nick said, "after the night guards have made sure everyone is cozied up in their own beds, we sneak up to sixth floor, where the party is. That's the best part, because those rooms are practically-"

"-soundproof," Kurt interrupted, silencing Nick and earning a surprised expression.

"Yeah, I've… heard."

Nick frowned, but didn't ask.

"Anyway, it could be a great opportunity for you to meet some new people, make some friends, maybe someone to get a little comfortable with…" Nick smirked when Kurt blushed.

"I don't know," Kurt said, worrying his lip between his teeth, "I'm kind of tired…"

Kurt knew it was a lame excuse, but it was true. He'd never been to a real party before and, _oh god_, what if there would be alcohol there? And what if he'd be expected to get drunk and act crazy? Kurt wasn't sure he was ready for that.

"How would I even be able to sneak out?"Kurt asked instead. "We have Mr. Burglee on this floor and he was probably a hawk in a past life, I swear."

Nick chuckled.

"I'm on this floor, too. But the thing that every night guard has in common is their routine. Mr. Burglee is last, so once he's done his eleven o'clock round, there won't be any guards around until eleven thirty, and then it's just to walk the halls for half an hour to see if anyone is sneaking around. There's always at least fifteen minutes between the two rounds for us here on the third floor."

Nick seemed to sense Kurt's hesitation, so he dragged himself up from the couch and stood front of him, clasping his shoulders with both hands.

"It will be fun, I promise. It would be a disgrace to the gentlemanly etiquette of Dalton if we made one of our newbies feel left out. And I promise, you won't have to do anything you don't want to do, if that's what you're worried about. We've all got your back."

Kurt could feel himself being persuaded, as if the doubt was slowly being erased by Nick's confident words. But there was still one thing he needed to ask.

"What the hell should I wear?"

Kurt couldn't tell who laughed harder as the tension broke and they made way over to Kurt's wardrobe.

"Well," Nick said, "We have over an hour to figure it out!"

000

Kurt wasn't sure where the heck he was or where this supposed room 668 was. He had been walking around the sixth floor for several minutes trying to find his way. Nick's instructions hadn't been very precise, so once again, Kurt was left baffled over Dalton's way of numbering rooms.

He thought he was finally on the right track when he heard footsteps coming up behind him. Kurt's heart stopped, thinking Nick must have been wrong about the night guard on sixth floor.

Running in zigzags across the hallway, Kurt rattled every door handle he could find, trying to escape the guard. His heart sped up as every door he tried was locked. He was about to give up his search and either run or just hand himself over when he saw a door with a little sign featuring a gold broom on it. He breathed a silent 'thank you' as he leapt toward the door. It budged under his weight, and he stumbled in, pulling the doorclosed as silently as he could behind him. He didn't close it entirely because that would've made too much noise.

The footsteps came closer quickly, and then stopped abruptly. Kurt held his breath.

"I was so sure I heard someone…" a voice said.

It was Blaine.

Kurt kept hiding, because he wasn't about to jump out of the janitor's closet. Kurt wasn't sure if Blaine knew he was avoiding him, but he thought jumping out of the closet and making a break for it might tip him off.

Kurt knew there must be a joke in his predicament somewhere, but he was too busy trying to be absolutely silent to figure it out.

Kurt didn't know who Blaine was talking to, although he listened intently. He strained his ears, but he heard nothing except Blaine's slow breathing.

"Never mind, it was probably nothing."

When Blaine paused, Kurt realized Blaine must be talking with someone _over the phone_. Kurt fought the urge to slap himself.

"Anyway… yeah. I'll be there. I will. I _will_. I'm leaving right now."

A groan.

"No, I'm not bailing on you this time. I told you, I was busy before."

Kurt carefully put a finger through the crack between the door and the frame to enlarge it. He peeked out in the hallway with one eye. He wasn't able to see much, but he did see Blaine. Well, part of him. He was standing so that Kurt could see his profile. Kurt felt his stomach drop at how close Blaine actually was. It couldn't be more than two feet between them.

Kurt noticed that Blaine wasn't in his uniform; he was wearing outdoor clothes. He had on a black vinyl jacket over a dark hoodie with equally dark pants and shoes. He looked suspiciously like someone who was trying to sneak out past curfew, which, Kurt realized, had to be exactly what he was doing. Kurt himself had gone for dark clothes for the same reason.

Kurt's eyes were so busy raking Blaine's body up and down that when he brought his eyes back up to Blaine's face, he thought he was going to have a heart attack. Blaine was staring_ right at him_.

Kurt stumbled backwards, trying to get out of sight and away from the crack in the door. However, that plan wasn't a terribly good one, because Kurt had left the lights out and couldn't see where he was putting his feet, taking a step backwards and walking right into a heap of mops. He lost his footing, throwing his hands out to grab anything he could reach –which turned out to be even more mops – and he landed on the floor, right on his butt, with a loud crash.

"_Fuck_," Kurt swore quietly as he tried to move all the things he'd managed to pull down off of him.

Kurt looked up as the closet was filled with light and saw Blaine standing in the doorway with a half incredulous and half amused expression on his face. He was still holding the phone to his ear, eyes wide as he stared down at where Kurt was blushing on the ground.

"I'll call you back later," Blaine spoke into the receiver, and ended the call without waiting for a reply. He pocketed his phone and flicked the light switch on the wall beside him. A light bulb on the ceiling lit the room with a yellowish glow.

He looked back at Kurt and shook his head slowly.

"Do I even _want_ to know what you're doing?"

"Probably not," Kurt muttered, pulling a cleaning rag off his leg.

Blaine put his hands on either side of the door frame and crossed one foot over the other.

"Tell me anyway," he urged, tilting his head to the side.

Kurt looked Blaine in the eye and completely lost his train of thought. He didn't know what it was, but something about Blaine was different. Sure, his hair wasn't gelled like it usually was, but rather damp and free like he'd just taken a shower, but that couldn't be all it was. Something was…different. Good different. Kurt couldn't put his finger on it, but it was driving him crazy. _Blaine_ was driving him crazy.

The sudden urge to kiss Blaine hit him like a freight train, followed closely by a need to touch and feel. He didn't know what was happening to him, but suddenly Blaine was all he wanted. He _needed_ him. The thought of not touching Blaine this very second was almost too much to bear.

Kurt could feel his breathing speeding up, his chest convulsing with each labored breath. His skin was on fire, he couldn't think, and Blaine must be feeling it too, right?

Blaine narrowed his eyes and eyed Kurt hungrily. He stepped further into the closet, licking his lips. Kurt along the floor towards Blaine, and Blaine shut the closet door completely behind him. He hesitated a moment, looking down at Kurt at his feet. Kurt couldn't stand it another second.

"_Blaine_," he whined.

It was enough.

Kurt didn't even have time to blink before Blaine was on the floor with him, pushing him back and pinning him down to the floor with his whole body. His lips attacked Kurt's in a different way than last time they had kissed. This kiss was heated and urgent, want and need unable to be satiated fast enough as their lips moved wetly, parting to give way to battling tongues. Kurt gripped the back of Blaine's head with one hand, tangling his fingers into the damp curls, and grabbed at Blaine's shoulder with the other one, pulling him closer.

Blaine used his hands to separate Kurt's legs and slide between them, slotting their hips together. They both moaned into each other's mouths as the beginnings of their erections brushed together. It felt like sparks were exploding inside of Kurt, and he loved it, wanted more of it. He pulled back from the kiss to catch his breath as he rolled his hips upward. Blaine responded immediately by pressing his hips down. Despite zippers and jeans being in the way, the friction felt amazing.

Without hesitation, Kurt moved his hips again and again until he found a good rhythm. Blaine willingly reciprocated, groaning his appreciation. He leaned back down to catch Kurt's lips with his in a sloppy kiss.

They kept rutting against each other, wincing now and then when the fabric was too rough between them, but not stopping – never stopping – because the pleasure was so much greater.

Kurt moved his lips away from Blaine's, and Blaine let out a low whine in protest. Then, Kurt was placing small kisses along Blaine's jaw and down his neck. When Blaine's hips pressed down hard against his, Kurt bit down on Blaine's neck, causing Blaine to gasp in his ear.

Blaine snaked an arm around Kurt's waist as his other hand swept over the curve of Kurt's ass, smoothly raising Kurt's hips off the floor and pressing them against his own.

The added pressure made the pleasure too intense to bear. Kurt couldn't hang on any longer.

"Blaine… I'm- fuck!"

"Me too," Blaine panted, giving Kurt's ass a tight squeeze.

That touch was enough, and with a final thrust, Kurt was coming hard in his pants, throwing his head back with a gasp. Blaine thrust his hips once, twice, and three times, and then his body tensed and he was moaning deep in his throat. Holding the two of them up became too much for Blaine's trembling arms, so they collapsed on the floor in a big pile of post-orgasmic haze.

Blaine rolled off of Kurt a moment later, letting out a breathy laugh. "And I _just _showered!"

Kurt raised a lazy eyebrow at him.

"I didn't say I regretted it," Blaine said quickly, "That was amazing."

He leaned in and kissed Kurt on the corner of his mouth, neither of them caring that the angle was weird. Blaine was too blissfully sated and Kurt was feeling too heavy to move anything other than his lips. Kurt wished they could lie there forever. Well, except for the drying stickiness in his pants.

"Ew," Kurt whimpered, wiggling his butt to the floor trying to ease the stickiness. Of course, it didn't work.

Blaine responded with a chuckle.

"If you can muster the strength to grab it, there's a pack of paper towels on that shelf over there," he said, pointing somewhere on the other side of the tiny room with a heavy hand.

"Not… yet."

"That's what I thought," Blaine said smugly as he moved closer to Kurt on the floor.

Kurt closed his eyes because he suddenly felt very tired. Going to a party now was probably the last thing he wanted to do. He wanted to sleep... but he wouldn't mind a replay of the last five minutes either. Blaine was right about that, it had felt amazing. Kurt wasn't really sure what had happened, how they'd ended up on the floor together when he'd needed time away from Blaine. Jumping into sexual situations with him had been the exact opposite of Kurt's plan.

It had been nothing like Kurt had expected. He thought about it many times, always assuming that he would be nervous and embarrassed the first time he did anything sexually, but he realized that he hadn't been nervous at all. He thought he would've been if he'd been naked, though. But he wasn't naked, and he wasn't nervous. He'd just followed his instincts and done what felt good. Besides, seeing Blaine – someone with plenty of experience –fall apart because of _him_ had been extraordinary.

Kurt snapped his eyes open as a thought hit him. _Oh god_. Was he even a virgin anymore?

He wasn't sure.

"Stop thinking so much, it's exhausting to watch," Blaine said from the floor beside him.

Kurt turned his head to look at Blaine, who he realized had been watching him all along.

"Sorry," Kurt mumbled with a small smile, "I'm just… not really sure what just happened."

"Well, some people would call it sex, others would call it an act performed by two people involving a satisfactory and highly pleasurable mating ritual."

"Shut up," Kurt said with a chuckle.

Blaine smiled and leaned in and pressed a few short kisses to Kurt's mouth, sighing against his lips. He pulled back slightly, a hand still on Kurt's cheek.

"I don't want to go, but I have to."

Blaine stood up and reached for the paper towels, throwing Kurt a couple, and they cleaned themselves up in silence as best as they could.

Kurt was starting to feel how stupid it had been to do this together with Blaine. Not only was he on his way to a party, but he wouldn't be able to go back to his dorm to change. He just hoped there were no visible stains on his pants.

It was so unlike Kurt to do something so spontaneous. In hindsight, Kurt had no idea what had come over him, it was as if he couldn't control himself or what he was feeling. One second Blaine was just standing there and the next he'd been all Kurt could ever care about. The sudden shift scared him, mostly because he had no idea why it had happened.

"You're doing it again," Kurt heard Blaine say. "But I guess you're allowed to; I'm heading out now."

Kurt got to his feet in a flash. "Take me."

Blaine's eyes darkened.

"God, do you have any idea how long I've wanted to hear you say that?"

Kurt scoffed. "I mean, take me with you. To where you're going."

"Oh," Blaine said dumbly, stiffening,"Sorry, no can do."

"Why not? Where are you going?"

"I'm pretty sure that's none of your business," Blaine said coldly.

"What if I want to make it my business?" Kurt shot back just as icily.

Blaine smirked, placing his hands on Kurt's hips.

"If you ever want to join me for a highly pleasurable mating ritual again…" Blaine said, wiggling his eyebrows.

Kurt huffed out a breath and bit his lip to keep from smiling. He reached up to smoothe the vinyl jacket Blaine was wearing, and as soon as his hand touched Blaine's chest, his fingers tingled with static electricity.

When he looked up into Blaine's eyes, they were wide and dark. His pupils were blown and they were frantically flicking between Kurt's eyes. Kurt looked down at his mouth – those parted, plump red lips – and felt another shot of arousal stir low in his belly. He groaned and buried his face in the crook of Blaine's shoulder. Mouthing and licking along the salty skin, his lips vibrated with small sounds at the sensation.

"I don't know what's happening but I want you so much," Kurt said against Blaine's skin, "So _much_."

Blaine moaned at Kurt's words, tightening his grip on Kurt's hips, which only drove Kurt on. He found a particularly delicious part on Blaine's neck to devour, licking turning to sucking turning into nibbling and biting frantically on that spot.

That's when he felt a hand thread into his hair and tug hard. Kurt let himself be pulled off, surprised more than anything.

"As I said, I have to go," Blaine reminded him, his face unreadable, "But hold that thought, will you?"

Without so much as a parting kiss, Blaine left the closet. When Kurt followed him into the hallway a second later, Blaine was already gone.

000

Kurt heard a faint murmur of sound coming from around the corner, and before he knew it, he was standing outside room 668. He knocked a couple of times, the hard wood of the door hurting his knuckles slightly. He was just starting to wonder if Nick had given him the right room number when he heard a muffled cheer from inside the room. When he leaned closer, putting his ear up against the door, he heard faint music and people talking.

Oh yes, _definitely_ the right room.

He knocked again and waited. When no one answered, he lightly pressed down the door handle. The door was unlocked, and as soon as he opened the door, a pair of hands grabbed his shirt and pulled him inside, quickly shutting the door behind him.

Kurt ended up face to face with Cade.

"Hey, Kurt!" Cade called, the cause of his cheerful mood betrayed by the strong smell of alcohol on his breath, "Long time no see!"

Kurt raised his eyebrows and smiled politely.

"Totally," he said.

Come to think of it, it had been awhile since they'd seen each other, apart from fleeting run-ins in the hallways between classes.

To be fair, it was mostly Kurt's fault. He'd been so busy with homework during the last couple of weeks, trying to adjust to the higher academic requirements, that he hadn't been able to focus on much else.

The only people he had seen outside of classes were Nick and Jeff, once Nick had gotten better. They always had lunch together since they apparently shared a lot of classes, and Kurt had really grown fond of the odd, but cute, couple. Sometimes Kurt did feel a little left out, but that was only because Nick and Jeff had been best friends for like _forever,_ and it showed. They were really nice though, and Kurt was sure he would've lost his mind long ago if it hadn't been for all the cramming sessions he'd had with Jeff.

Kurt talked a bit with Cade, asking what he'd been up to while refusing a drink, which apparently went unheard because Cade handed him one anyway.

Kurt had just taken his first sip and thinking that it wasn't too bad, almost like soda, when he heard a couple of guys cheer loudly. Kurt turned to see a small group doing shots. Sebastian was one of them, and he was the only person among them whose name Kurt knew, although he recognized two other faces.

Half an hour later, the loudspeakers connected to someone's laptop were blaring loudly with the latest radio hits, and Kurt could feel the bass thumping through his whole body. He was sipping his drink, wondering if it was the second or third that Cade had handed him, when an Asian guy sat down next to him on the couch.

Well, sat was a very nice description of how the guy stumbled and collapsed onto the cushions.

"I'm Wes Montgomery," the guy said and grinned.

Despite being drunk, his manners didn't falter as he extended his hand.

"Kurt Hummel," Kurt said, shaking his hand at a weird angle.

"So, Kurt..." Wes said, voice slurring a little, "Kurt, Kurt, Kurt... Do you sing?"

"I do," Kurt said, trying not to laugh at the guy.

"Great," he said, dragging himself up from the couch with some difficulty.

He stumbled away toward a couple of guys across the room.

Kurt sighed, looking down at his drink. His whole body was buzzing comfortably, but he couldn't help but feel alone.

He got up from the couch and got a refill, knowing that it was a bad idea but desperately wanting something to help him relax and be social.

As soon as his glass was full, he turned and scanned the room. It didn't take long to spot Sebastian in the middle of the room, doing something Kurt was sure was supposed to be dancing but didn't look anything like it. There was too much stumbling involved.

Watching him, Kurt was pretty sure that Sebastian was drunk out of his mind. Holding back a smile, Kurt decided to use the opportunity to his advantage.

"Sebastian, hey!" Kurt called as he made his way to him.

"Kuuuurt," Sebastian laughed and threw an arm over Kurt's shoulders, "Dance with me."

"Wow, you're drunker than I thought."

"What was that?" Sebastian mumbled, taking a swig of his glass and realizing that it was empty.

"Where did my drink go? Did you see it leave?"

He pointed a wobbly finger at Kurt accusingly.

"Okay drunktard, let's sit for a bit," Kurt said, moving them toward the side of the room.

After listening to Sebastian slur for a few minutes, Kurt decided he'd had enough. He dug his hand into his pants pocket and closed his fingers around the wooden coin. He held it up before Sebastian's eyes and watched as Sebastian grew silent and sober in a matter of seconds.

"How did this end up with me?" Kurt asked warily.

"I'm sure you didn't accidentally drop it into my pants. You may be a lacrosse player but your _accidental _aim is nowhere near that good."

Sebastian clicked his tongue a couple of times and narrowed his eyes.

"So what?"

Kurt tensed his jaw. "So stop with the secrets for once and tell me why you put this on me!"

Sebastian's only response was to look away. Kurt could feel something building in his chest. It wasn't just annoyance or irritation anymore, it was anger and _rage_. He was so tired of everyone always victimizing him, pitying him. First it was the bullying, and now this.

Kurt was practically fuming as he threw the coin at Sebastian , who recoiled in genuine surprise, and got up, feeling more than ready to leave the party. However, he'd barely gotten to the door when a hand grabbed his arm.

"Kurt, are you leaving already?" Wes asked with a pout.

"Yeah, I suddenly got really tired," Kurt lied.

"But I just signed us up for karaoke."

Grimacing, Kurt hoped that Wes would forgive him in the morning, or better yet, not remember a thing.

"I'm really sorry, maybe next time."

"You said you liked to sing, so I thought-" Wes paused, biting on the inside of his cheek.

"Will you come by one of our Warbler practices? We have open auditions every Friday. I think you'd fit in."

Kurt smiled at Wes' kindness, even though it was a bit strange.

"You haven't even heard me sing. For all you know, I could suck," Kurt reminded him.

Wes was shaking his head before Kurt had even finished his sentence.

"You can say whatever you want, but I have a feeling about you, Kurt Hummel."

"And what kind of feeling is that?" Kurt asked in amusement, feeling his anger ebb away with every second spent in Wes' company.

"That you're special."

Kurt's smile faded in astonishment, but he didn't have time to say anything before Wes patted his arm and took off with a slurred 'take care'.

Even though he wasn't nearly as upset anymore, Kurt still felt ready to leave the party. He headed for the door again, this time in a brighter mood. He didn't even get annoyed when a couple of guys completely blocked his way and wouldn't move, talking too loudly to each other to hear Kurt.

Kurt reached up and tapped one of the guys' shoulders hard. The guy's laughter quieted and he turned. He was kind of tall, so when he turned, Kurt's eyes were level with the guy's neck.

Kurt's blood ran cold as he saw two small holes pierced in the thin skin of the guy's throat, separated by about an inch. The wounds looked new, like they'd been there less than a couple of days.

The guy stared down at Kurt, eyebrow raised and a drink in his hand.

"Did you want something?"

* * *

**TBC. **

**(See what I did there...?)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Kurt continues investigating... **

**Next chapter will be longer, don't worry! And I only have a few scenes left to write on it :)**

* * *

Kurt blinked and closed his gaping mouth. He was about to shake his head and walk away, but something stopped him. He realized that he'd never forgive himself if he didn't ask about it. There were too many questions these days, and he didn't want all of them to stay unanswered.

"Actually," Kurt said, almost cringing at his insecure voice as the guy turned back towards him. How was he going to phrase this?

"Those marks on your neck... Would you mind if I asked how you got them?"

The guy looked at Kurt oddly, bringing a hand up to rub at his own neck, right over the marks in question. He shuddered visibly.

"I was bitten by a snake. Just my luck, you know?"

"_A snake bit you in the neck?!_" Kurt practically yelled in shock. How did something like that even happen?

"I mean- I'm sorry… that must've been a horrible experience."

The guy shrugged.

"I don't doubt it was, which is why I'm so glad I don't remember any of it."

Kurt frowned.

"Then how do you know what happened?"

"Last thing I remember is walking into the forest for a smoke. Damn new school policies can get you expelled if they catch you, you know. But then I must've blacked out or something, because next thing I know I'm in the nurse's office. Nurse thinks the trauma made my brain shut it out."

The story was incredible to say the least.

"Still, a snake..."

"I wouldn't have known if it wasn't for that guy, um... Todd. He was there in the woods, probably smoking too, and he saw the whole thing. Said it was dreadful, and that the snake would've strangled me if it hadn't been for him. Apparently I tripped, the snake got me, and it almost ate me alive. Todd tore it away from my neck by its head, like a freaking Australian or something. Anyway, I'm just grateful everything turned out okay."

"Yeah, I can understand that." Kurt bit his lip. "That Todd guy sounds… incredible. You wouldn't know his last name or where I could find him or...?"

"Sure," the guy said, nodding to the other side of the room, "he's right there."

If Kurt wasn't suspicious before, he certainly was now that he'd gotten a look at Todd. The deep crease between the guy's eyebrows seemed almost threatening as he stared back at Kurt intently. Feeling uneasy, Kurt thanked the guy with the dubious snake story and escaped the party. Kurt was unable to know for sure if Todd wore a blue crest without seeing his blazer, but he thought he knew anyway. He was an observer; the least he could do was spot the pattern of stern-looking faces leading back to the crest.

On his way down the hallways back to his dorm, Kurt thought about and realized that the whole crest mystery was getting completely out of hand. The snake story he'd just been told had obviously been a cover-up – even an idiot could see that – but the question was; for what? Kurt knew what the bite marks _looked _like, but he quickly dismissed the thought. Those kinds of things weren't real.

Kurt rubbed a hand over his face and sighed, speeding up his walk. His head was pounding and he was starting to regret going to the party. He just wanted to get some sleep now.

He rounded the last corner before his own room, lowering his hand from his face just in time to walk straight into a tall, soft _someone_.

"Mr. Hummel, is it?"

Kurt looked up, eyes wide and terrified. He was staring right into the face of Mr. Sullith, the night guard on 6th floor.

_Shit! _Kurt thought.

He'd forgotten about the guards. He must've left the party right in the middle of the last round for the night. If only he'd waited a few minutes more at the party, this never would've happened. Now he was probably going to be sent to the principal's office, and they would probably call his dad, who'd be so disappointed. Not to mention, he could get suspended if they realized he'd been drinking. What if they noticed and forced him to rat out everyone at the party, or-?

A firm hand grasped Kurt's shoulder, and he recoiled in surprise. The hand squeezed gently before letting go.

"I won't put you through any trouble, sir," Mr. Sullith said in his deep, northern accent.

"What with ya being a newbie, first time getting caught 'n all."

Kurt didn't understand. Why wasn't he getting into trouble for this?

"But I will escort ya back to yar dorm," Mr. Sullith continued. "Folks like yerself shouldn't be wandering the halls so late. Very bad behavior, it is."

"I'm sorry," Kurt managed. What was he supposed to say?

"It won't happen again."

They walked down the stairs together. Kurt's tread was light and silent, while Mr. Sullith's feet made loud thuds with every step he took on the old wooden stairs.

"See, I'm sure it will," Mr. Sullith said after a moment.

"People like you don't c'mere offen, and ya don't stay long. Too curious; more willing to go on adventures than to just let things be."

It took a while for Kurt to catch up with what the bald man was saying, but when he did he stopped dead in his tracks. He watched Mr. Sullith walk away for a few seconds before he managed to make his feet move again.

"So you know what's going on here, at this school?" Kurt asked, daring to hope for some answers.

Between that car ride Mr. Sullith had given him and Blaine and not taking Kurt to the principal now, Kurt decided that Mr. Sullith was a decent man. You just had to be straight with him.

"All the grown-ups do," Mr. Sullith said pensively, and hummed.

"Quite extraordinary how they keep the school up and runnin' as it is, if ya ask me. Shoulda shutted down long ago, in my opinion."

Kurt scoffed.

"You can't expect me not to be curious when I hear things like that."

Kurt shook his head in disbelief and observed Mr. Sullith's complete lack of facial expressions.

"I don't suppose you'd let me in on the secret so I could give it a rest?"

They arrived at Kurt's dorm room door. Kurt wasn't sure how Mr. Sullith knew which one was his. The mysterious natures of all the inhabitants of the school never failed to amaze and bewilder Kurt.

Mr. Sullith's mouth shifted into a firm, straight line, and that was all the answer he gave Kurt.

"Tomorrow's gonna be a sunny day, I can feel. Good thing, too. We could use a lil'… light about now."

Kurt watched with a curious expression as Mr. Sullith strolled back down the hallway and rounded a corner as if he didn't have a care in the world. Yet somehow, despite his care-free air, Kurt sensed that the older man was full of secrets and worries on the inside. Kurt clicked his tongue and shrugged to himself, unlocking his door. His room was pitch black as he closed the door behind him and reached for the light switch.

When he turned back around, Kurt's heart nearly stopped. Then he recognized the form casually splayed out on his bed, hands folded under his head, soft smile on his face.

"Miss me?" Blaine cooed.

"Terribly," Kurt said sarcastically, pulling his shoes off.

"How did you even get into my room? The door was locked."

"I thought you knew by now that I have my ways," Blaine shot back, shifting so he was leaning on his elbows.

"It gives me mystique, don't you think?" he asked, tilting his head to the side but failing to hide his smile.

"Maybe if someone would just tell me what is going on, I wouldn't have to ask so many questions," Kurt muttered, starting to feel a light throb in his head. He'd barely had anything to drink, so he must just be tired.

Sitting down at the foot of the bed, Kurt pulled his cardigan off and folded it in his lap. He kept his eyes on it and ran his fingers over a small crease on one of the sleeves over and over again. A long breath escaped his lips as the bed dipped behind him. Warm arms snaked around his waist, and he let himself lean back against Blaine's firm body.

"What's got you down, baby?" Blaine asked quietly as he nuzzled behind one of Kurt's ears. He pressed a small, lingering kiss there and exhaled warmly.

Kurt felt the tension slowly leave his body.

"I just… I don't know what I'm doing here. Everything's just getting more and more complicated, and I can't make sense of anything, and it's driving me nuts. It's all I can think about when I should be studying for my exam next week. Instead, my mind is constantly puzzling over all these secrets, distracting me, and I'm just so _tired_."

"So let it go. Knowing about the people at Dalton isn't gonna do you any good. In a little over a year, you'll be graduating from high school and you can leave this entire thing behind. It doesn't matter if you spend your time here in ignorance. Ignorance is bliss, after all. Right?"

Closing his eyes, Kurt tried to visualize what Blaine was describing: his life after Dalton, growing up, leaving, forgetting about the blue crests… but he couldn't do it. It wasn't because those things seemed too far away, but because there was something else inside his head, a trapped thought trying to break loose.

"I guess I could try to let it go," Kurt said with a yawn.

He didn't protest when Blaine's arms tensed around him, easily pulling him back onto the bed.

"Try to get some sleep," Blaine said, pulling up the covers around them.

"I'll be here in the morning."

Kurt opened his eyes again and thought about everything Blaine had said.

"Maybe you shouldn't be," Kurt said suddenly, turning to look at Blaine's puzzled face.

"You're part of the mystery, Blaine, you've said so yourself." Kurt pulled his hand away from where Blaine hopelessly tried to grab it under the covers.

"I think you should go."

Blaine sat up with a serious frown on his face. His annoyed glare made Kurt feel small.

"That's it?"

"It's just for a little while," Kurt amended. "I think I just need a little rest from all of this, and that includes you."

Kurt wasn't sure if Blaine was listening to what he was saying, because he wasn't looking at him anymore. Blaine seemed to have gone somewhere else, leaving his body behind, slumped and gazing distantly at his fingers as they moved soothingly.

"Blaine?"

Taking a deep breath, Blaine hid his face in one of his palms. He shook his head slowly and dropped his hand again, glancing quickly at Kurt before averting his gaze to the windows.

"It won't be for just a little while, Kurt. I know how it goes. I know how people say it's temporary, but they end up closing a door in your face that they never open again. They just leave you without the decency of telling you to not wait up."

Blaine looked back to Kurt, his eyes soft.

"But in the end it's just me who's the idiot, you know?"

Kurt sat up too, laying his head on Blaine's shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Kurt said, placing his hand over one of Blaine's. He wasn't sure why he was apologizing for whatever had happened in Blaine's past, but it felt like the right thing to do. It was warm, maybe even a little damp, and silky to the touch.

"Please stay."

Neither spoke as Kurt lay back down, pulling Blaine along with him. He kept an arm around Blaine as he turned off the light on his nightstand, clothes, teeth and skin be damned for the night. It was worth it to be in that bed with Blaine with Blaine's loose curls tucked under Kurt's chin as he hugged Kurt back tightly.

The embrace was a little awkward, but Kurt felt secure, cozy and safe. They stayed like that for a long time, until Kurt drifted soundlessly to sleep.

000

The music box was clasped tightly in his hands, playing its lulling melody softly. He closed the lid abruptly, and the music cut off. The room echoed with the silence. The people in his room were already fast asleep, on the couch and on the floor. Of course, the music hadn't had any effect on him.

Putting the music box aside, he stood up and strolled over to the mirror in his bathroom. He looked at his face, the face that should be wrinkled with age, yet hadn't been altered the slightest bit. He looked at his clothes. The snug Dalton uniform was completely unoriginal, and he knew he looked exactly the same as hundreds of other students at the school. Only God knew how different he actually was, and that he was only pretending to be just another student.

He chuckled lightly to himself in the dark, quiet room. He really did fit right in.


End file.
